Verstappen goes ‘all-in’ – ready to ‘make it exciting to the end’

Max Verstappen heads into the Qatar Grand Prix weekend with a surge of momentum and a fierce, sharpened focus, as the Red Bull star continues one of the most electrifying championship resurgences of his career.

The defending World Champion has reignited the fight at the sharp end of the standings, transforming a once-daunting points deficit into a very real title threat as Formula 1 enters its penultimate round.

Thanks to his dominant win in Las Vegas – paired with the shock double disqualification of both McLaren drivers – Verstappen slashed his gap to Lando Norris in the Drivers’ standings to just 24 points.

With 58 still on the table across two Grands Prix and this weekend’s Sprint, the Red Bull charger has placed himself squarely back in the fight for a fifth consecutive crown.

‘All-In’ for the Finale Battles

Returning to a circuit where he triumphed 12 months ago, Verstappen made clear that his mindset is both calm and uncompromising.

“Ready! See what happens. It is the same, I feel the same as last week,” he said when asked about his confidence heading into the weekend.

The math is simple: Verstappen must keep attacking, and he knows it.

“Yes, it is closer. Ideally I would have loved to have had it even more close, of course we'll try our best. All in, and hopefully we can make it exciting to the end.”

This steely urgency comes after a mid-season slump that caused Verstappen – following a miserable ninth place in Hungary – to claim Red Bull wouldn’t win another race in 2025.

Instead, he has delivered one of the most explosive comebacks of the history of the sport: four wins and four additional podiums in the eight races since, wiping out a 104-point gap to then-leader Oscar Piastri. The two now sit tied on 366 points.

A Surprising Turn – and a Timely One

Verstappen doesn’t deny that circumstances outside his control helped accelerate the turnaround, but he’s equally quick to credit his team’s late-season resurgence.

“Something that I definitely wouldn't have expected but here we are,” he admitted when reflecting on his early-season doubts.

“I think we have had a very strong end to the season, much more happy with that and [I] guess also we've been helped a little bit with certain things.

“Results, crashes, disqualifications. We should not forget that I guess, but I'm happy.”

Still, the four-time World Champion remains unsatisfied with how the campaign began – and fully focused on how it must end.

“Naturally I would have liked a bit of a better first half but that's something that you can't change. We'll just try to focus on the last two races and try to do the best we can.”

With his trademark relentlessness restored and the championship improbably within reach, Verstappen storms into Qatar in full attack mode.

If his vow to go “all-in” plays out as emphatically as his recent form suggests, Formula 1 may be bracing for a title showdown that goes right down to the final lap of the season.

Read also: Vettel reveals what ‘scares’ him about Max Verstappen

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook