Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko agree about his 2025 F1 title bid after Brazilian Grand Prix blunder

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Max Verstappen has offered his thoughts on his 2025 title bid after qualifying 16th for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Verstappen saw a shock Q1 exit during Saturday’s qualifying session and appears to have written off any chances of winning the race at Interlagos.

Both Red Bull cars struggled with pace during the first part of qualifying, with Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda both finding themselves out early.

The Dutchman finished the Brazil Sprint race in fourth place, after starting from sixth after being gifted a position from Oscar Piastri’s crash before he overtook Fernando Alonso at the rolling start.

Verstappen fell short of Sprint race winner Lando Norris, seeing him fall 39 points behind the championship-leading Brit.

The four-time world champion had previously appeared confident about his championship chances, saying ahead of Mexico that only ‘bad luck’ would stop him from his fifth title.

Max Verstappen shares disappointing remark on championship chances

When asked about his chances in the 2025 title fight after the Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying, a dejected Verstappen told Sky Sports F1: “I can forget about that”. When the reporter asked the Dutchman, “really?”, Verstappen responded with: “Yes, for sure”.

The Red Bull driver added: “Where we are starting, that is not going to work, and with these kind of performances, I mean, forget about it.”

Verstappen does not seem confident that he could replicate last year’s Brazilian masterclass where he went from P17 to take the victory.

The Dutchman revealed “the whole weekend has been quite tough” as Red Bull appear to have dropped back from the leading pack after bringing new set-up changes for the race in Interlagos.

Helmut Marko agrees that Max Verstappen’s title bid is over

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has agreed with Max Verstappen that his chances at a fifth world championship title are now over after a disappointing qualifying session.

Usually quite an outspoken member of Red Bull, Marko appeared dejected by the team’s performance during Saturday at Interlagos.

Marko described the qualifying session as “a complete disaster” before admitting that Red Bull needed to figure out why both drivers had an early exit before saying “the damage is done”.

Speaking to F1 Insider, Marko, who has been in his advisory role since 2005, said that Red Bull “need to look at where we went wrong”.

When asked about Verstappen’s chances at a fifth title, Marko admitted: “Our chances in the World Championship have now dropped significantly.”

Many in the paddock appear to agree with the sentiment, including former F1 driver and Sky Germany pundit, Ralf Schumacher, who said: “The World Championship is over for Max – unless a miracle happens tomorrow.”