“The Ship Has Sailed!” Toto Wolff Insists Max Verstappen Is Not Winning the 2025 Championship over McLaren

Max Verstappen recently achieved a shocking turnaround in results and became a serious contender for the driver’s title very late into the 2025 season. At one point, Verstappen was trailing the campaign by more than 100 points and had given up on the hope.

However, his recent dominance has helped him return to contention. However, amid Lando Norris’ sublime pace, Toto Wolff believes that the driver’s title is done and dusted and cannot be won by the Dutchman.

The Brazil GP seemed to be the turning point in Max Verstappen‘s title hopes in the 2025 season. The Dutchman had a woeful Qualifying session and had to start the race from P16, which then became a pitlane start due to multiple car changes. However, Verstappen pulled a stellar performance on Sunday and finished in P3 despite starting from the pit lane.

Still, the point deficit between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen increased to over 49 points. Norris is simply having the drive of his life in recent races and seems to be the favorite to win the title this year. Verstappen had seemingly given up on the hopes, but he isn’t going to give up now, especially after a P3 finish in Brazil. Still, Toto Wolff feels otherwise.

Toto Wolff initially applauded McLaren and their decision to let both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri fight fair and square on the track. He reckoned that he did not see a situation where they would take each other out.

Further, Wolff questioned the point gap between Norris and Max Verstappen. After finding out that the gap is over 49 points, the Austrian boldly claimed that the ship of the Dutchman winning the title this year had far sailed, and the hopes were now over.

How they’ve handled it is very well. It’s very good, letting them race. I don’t see a situation where they’re taking each other out. How many points is Max behind? Okay, that ship has sailed.

Toto Wolff said, as reported by RacingNews365.

Toto Wolff still claims ‘never discount’ Max Verstappen after Brazil recovery drive

The Brazilian GP is certainly one of the more successful tracks for Max Verstappen in terms of achieving great results despite starting from the back of the grid. Even in the 2024 season, the Dutchman emerged victorious in the race after starting from P17.

This year, he couldn’t quite win the race, but he finished in P3 after starting in P19. As such, despite claiming that Verstappen’s title chances were over, Toto Wolff refused to discount the reigning world champion.

Toto Wolff claimed that Red Bull’s resurgence was quite interesting, more so because of the new power unit. The Austrian recalled Lewis Hamilton‘s victory from P10 after taking in a new PU back in 2021, and how it was similar to Max Verstappen’s podium finish in Brazil.

Further, Wolff asserted that people should never discount Verstappen, no matter the point difference between the leaders of the pack. The 53-year-old declared that he was a four-time champion for a reason and should never be taken lightly.

Well, it’s quite interesting, with the big step they’ve made. A fresh engine, obviously, always helps, like we had with Lewis in the day. But never discount Max, even if he starts from last. Last year, it was a wet race, so you kind of get your head around it, but that was a dry race. It’s the reason why he’s a four-time world champion.

Toto Wolff noted.

The 2025 season still has three races left until completion. One of the three race weekends is a sprint weekend, and this further increases the chances for Max Verstappen to chip away at the point deficit.

One McLaren DNF and the championship battle is on again for the reigning world champion. It would certainly be one of the greatest comebacks in F1 if Verstappen actually manages to win the title this year.

Also Read: Lando Norris Reacts to ‘Crap Talkers’ After Dominant Interlagos triumph

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