Max Verstappen has made a lighthearted comment about what he could achieve if he were driving the McLaren MCL39, as he faces a “limitation” with his Red Bull car.
Verstappen secured his first victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season at Suzuka, holding off a strong challenge from McLaren’s Lando Norris, who finished just a second behind. Despite the pressure from Norris, Verstappen managed to stay ahead throughout the entire race.
While Red Bull’s RB21 has had a solid start to the season, it has not yet matched the pace of McLaren’s MCL39, which has been dominant in the first two races, winning in Australia and China. Verstappen showed his title credentials by taking an unexpected pole position at Suzuka.
With overtaking difficult at Suzuka, Verstappen remained unshaken, defending his lead from the two McLarens for all 53 laps of the race to secure the win and start his championship defense with a strong result.
After three races, Norris leads the championship with 62 points, just one point ahead of Verstappen. Reflecting on his win and the support from Red Bull, the four-time F1 World Champion joked to Viaplay about what could happen if he were in the faster McLaren.
“I’m very happy with what I’m doing right now,” Verstappen said. “But I could think what would happen when I would be in that other car.” When asked if he meant the McLaren, he responded, “Yes, you wouldn’t see me anymore!”
The reporter humorously replied, “You would have been in Tokyo already!” to which Verstappen agreed, saying, “Exactly!”
In the FIA press conference after the race, Verstappen admitted that while his victory was significant, it did not mean Red Bull had overcome the performance gap with the RB21. He was asked about how close the car was to reaching its full potential.
“We know our limitations,” Verstappen said. “We just have to try and work within those limitations as much as we can. But it’s still not fixed. Hopefully, it will be soon, but I can’t give you a timeline. It’s about finding that limit, which is very sensitive for us right now.”
After his unexpected win at Suzuka, a track where McLaren was favored to continue their dominant streak, Verstappen took pride in his driving performance.
“It means I really care, even though it hasn’t been the easiest start for us,” he said. “We’re not where we want to be in terms of performance, but it’s been really nice this weekend. Sometimes, you have those moments when you get some great laps out of it.”
He added, “Luckily, the balance also improved a bit during qualifying. I just keep working, keep grinding. I don’t focus on the positives or negatives; I just stay in the middle and focus on my own performance.”
Following Verstappen’s victory with a less competitive car than Norris, the McLaren driver was asked if Suzuka proved that Verstappen will remain a title contender despite not having the fastest car.
“I get a lot of questions like, ‘Are you surprised by Max when he does a race like today?’ People expect me to say yes, but I don’t think there’s any reason to be surprised,” Norris said. “I don’t need anyone to tell me what Max can do. I know how good he is.”
Norris continued, “Nothing surprises me anymore, but I still believe we’ll have some great races ahead, and we’ll go head-to-head. Some days, he’ll come out on top, and other days, I will.”
