Max Verstappen says winning the 2025 title wouldn’t surpass his biggest F1 achievement

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Max Verstappen would complete the biggest comeback in F1 history if he is successful in stealing the 2025 F1 title away from Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but the Red Bull star has explained why it wouldn’t surpass what he thinks is his greatest achievement in the sport.

Since his resurgence back to being a consistent contender for race wins at the Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen has turned a 104-point deficit to the championship-leading Piastri into a gap that currently stands at just 40 points.

The Dutchman still has a lot of work to do to overturn the advantage that the McLaren duo currently hold over him, but both Piastri and Norris have looked increasingly vulnerable in recent races as their superiority has seemed to have faded away.

The Australian has failed to appear on the podium in the last four races across all formats, which has led Jacques Villeneuve to believe Piastri is succumbing to the pressure that Verstappen is applying.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen tells McLaren drivers he won’t use one tactic he used against Lewis Hamilton in 2021

Max Verstappen would still hold one F1 achievement in a higher regard if he wins the 2025 title

If Verstappen is successful in his hopes of securing a fifth consecutive world championship this season, it would be another record that the 28-year-old would be adding to his collection.

However, in an interview with Matt Majendie on The Inside Track, the Dutchman noted another championship feat as the achievement that he would still be prouder of.

Asked if he thinks it would it would be his greatest achievement, Verstappen replied, “Yeah, in terms of comeback, yes,” before he was cut off by Majendie asking if it would eclipse his maiden F1 title from the hotly contested 2021 season.

The four-time world champion responded, “I think that’s the beauty, that every year is different, right?

“I would still go for ’23. Winning that many races is always better than winning a few less. But in terms of a comeback story, for sure.

“But yeah, at the end of the day, I think you have to appreciate every single year that you do, if you win it or not.”

Despite sitting in third place in the F1 standings, many paddock insiders believe Verstappen is currently the favourite to win the title in a testament to how formidable he is in race-winning machinery.

READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya says McLaren star will collide with Max Verstappen and hand his teammate the title

Max Verstappen shares whether he thinks he is currently in the best form of his F1 career

The Red Bull star was also asked whether he thinks his recent form on race weekends stands above his previous purple patches.

Verstappen replied, “I would hope so. I mean, every year that I start, I’m always trying to be a little bit better.

“Now, of course, I think at a certain stage, it’s not like massive gains anymore, but you always try to be more consistent. You always try to just make less mistakes in general, in any kind of session or whatever.

“You just try to mature into it a bit more and basically just try to maximise the potential of the car, yourself, the weekend, all these things.”

The mature outlook that he now has on his perspective on racing in F1 has seen a wide influx of fans warming to the Dutchman, who was largely considered a villain in the sport due to his aggressive racecraft and sheer dominance.

However, Verstappen has emerged as one of the most popular F1 drivers after a recent poll.

He is now ranked as the fifth most popular driver on the grid, moving ahead of Norris, who was previously ranked as the most likeable personality in seasons past.