Verstappen: "We didn't really lose" F1 title because we were never in the fight

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has explained why missing out on a fifth consecutive Formula 1 world title by two points doesn't really feel like a loss.

Verstappen came just two points short of overhauling McLaren's Lando Norris, who sealed his maiden world championship with third place in the Abu Dhabi season finale, with the Dutch driver taking victory at the Yas Marina.

After a tough first half of the campaign, Verstappen trailed the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, who ended in third, by 104 points after the Dutch Grand Prix.

His unlikely comeback was the result of set-up improvements at Red Bull, while McLaren threw away a lot of points through various means, including driver mistakes on Piastri's side, strategy errors, a reliability issue for Norris in Zandvoort and a double disqualification in Las Vegas for excessive plank wear.

Red Bull's wretched mid-season outlook, which led to team principal Christian Horner being replaced by Laurent Mekies, is why Verstappen doesn't feel like he missed out on a fifth title, feeling fortunate he got so close to begin with.

"Well, I see it like this... We didn't really lose it, because we were never really in it," Verstappen told Dutch broadcaster Viaplay. "I think if you look at the whole season, we never really had a chance to compete.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Erik Junius

"Because there were two of them, of course, [the McLaren drivers] took a lot of points away from each other. And because of that, if you're on your own, and at some point, things start to go better, then of course you catch up a bit. A few crashes or strategy mistakes, disqualifications, and then at some point you're in it. I don't really feel like we missed out on anything."

That's also why Verstappen is brushing off his points loss at the Spanish Grand Prix, when he was penalised for driving into Mercedes' George Russell, even though it's the one obvious points loss that was entirely in his control.

"I think we can be happy that we were able to compete in the championship," he reflected on the Barcelona incident. "First of all, we were never in the lead in the championship. We also received a lot of gifts ourselves.

"The championship was certainly not lost in Barcelona. I think you have to look more at where we had opportunities to compete. And yes, of course, there are always moments... Look, I got knocked out in Austria. But then again, we had so many problems in so many races before that. Mistakes with pitstops, weekends where nothing went right at all. So, looking back, there are lots of things you could have done better.

"And ultimately, McLaren was disqualified in Las Vegas. If that doesn't happen, then you're not even in the race. So, it depends on how you look at it. In the end it doesn't matter if it's one point, half a point, 20 points. Not winning is not winning. You're either pregnant or you're not. You're not half pregnant, right?"