Max from Sao Paulo: 'Completely different track and layout'

Published on 06 November 2025 by Misha van der Kroon

Ahead of the race weekend, Max Verstappen faced the media on Thursday. In São Paulo, at the legendary Interlagos circuit, the Dutchman looks ahead to the Brazilian Grand Prix and reflects on last year’s unforgettable edition, where he stormed from P17 to victory in a true masterclass.

First, Max looks back on last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, where he finished third. After that race, he explained that the car wasn’t performing as strongly as in the previous rounds. Still, the World Champion remains calm and measured about the situation: “I think there are places where we did very well, and McLaren didn’t quite get the most out of it. Sometimes a track suits the car better than others, and it’s clear we’re not yet the best everywhere. Hopefully, this weekend will be different. It’s a completely different track, layout, and altitude. We’ll see how it goes.”

Max is then asked whether Mercedes and Ferrari could play a decisive role in the title fight, for instance, by finishing ahead of the McLarens. He laughs: “They can help by being faster than the McLarens!” Then, he continues: “First of all, we need to be faster than them in these final races to close the gap. We’ll see. We had some good rounds, we’ve done a good job and managed to close in, but with four races left, the gap it's still a pretty big gap. I’ll need to score a lot more points every single weekend, which is not that straight forward. If you gave me a 2023-style season, with how everything was, and tell me I'm 36 points behind with four races to go, I’d say 'yeah, no problem'. But this season is different. We just have to optimise everything, and maybe hope for a bit of luck to make things easier. We’ll give it everything, and whether it will be enough at the end of the year, I don’t know. But there’s not much to lose. Worst case, we’re P3; and best case, we win the championship.”

Of course, there’s also time to look back at last year’s legendary Brazilian Grand Prix. Starting from 17th on the grid, Max charged through the field to take victory in the rain. It was a race that both fans and critics call one of his greatest ever. The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver agrees: “A wet race is always challenging, and it’s especially tricky here. I’m sure it was one of my best races because there was a lot of pressure to perform. It’s impossible to say which race is the best, because it depends on so many factors. To be honest, it’s not about 'how can I do better than before', it’s about winning the race. That’s the most important thing. It doesn’t matter if you start at the back or the front, or if it’s a boring race. In the end, I’m here to score as many points as possible every weekend.”

Finally, the focus turns to next year. There’s talk of introducing a mandatory two-stop rule to improve the racing. Max understands why the idea is being considered: “The cars have become more difficult to follow, and in some races your tyres overheat quickly when you’re within a second of the car ahead. It’s quite tough to attack, also because the cars are within two or three tenths of each other in pace, so the speed difference isn’t big enough. Maybe a two-stop rule would help, and maybe it’ll make things better. But on the other hand, people will probably be complaining if it comes at the wrong time. That’s just how it goes. Anyway, there are still a lot of question marks and unknowns for next season, aside from the potential two-stoppers.”

Contest GP Brazil: win a by Max Verstappen signed Red Bull Racing cap!

Max’s special Brazilian helmet is now available as a scale model (1:2 and 1:4). In addition, a Brazilian cap, sport shirt, and zip hoodie have been launched! Check it out: https://www.verstappen.com/collections/brazil-collection