Max Verstappen admit he needs "luck" to catch McLaren drivers for F1 2025 title

Max Verstappen admits he needs help from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to overhaul an average of nine points per race weekend in the 2025 Formula 1 title fight

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen says he will need "a little bit of luck" to catch Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the 2025 Formula 1 world championship.

With a dominant win in Mexico Norris snatched the lead in the drivers' standings for the first time in six months, and now heads to this weekend's Brazil Grand Prix with a one-point lead over McLaren team-mate Piastri.

Meanwhile, Verstappen's third place has allowed him to cut his deficit to the top of the table from 40 to 36 points. But with just four race weekends to go, including two sprints, Verstappen feels making up an average of nine points per grand prix will involve a bit of external help.

"We had some good rounds where the gap came down, but now with four races it's still a pretty big gap," he said in Sao Paulo on Thursday.

"I need to score a lot more points every single weekend, which is not that straightforward. I mean, if you would give me 2023 season, with how everything was, and you tell me I'm 36 points behind with four races to go, I'm like, yeah, no problem, easy. But this season has been a little bit different, so it comes down to us optimising everything and nailing the weekend.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

"We probably need a little bit of luck on one round to create a bigger offset, but we're going to give it all. And if that's going to be enough at the end of the year, I don't know, but there's also not much to lose. I mean, worst case we have P3, and best case you can win a championship."

While both Norris and Piastri are chasing their first crown after a year of ups, downs and driver mistakes, Verstappen says the pressure is off for him, as he chases a fifth consecutive world title given he hasn't had the fastest car for most of the campaign.

"For me there's no pressure," the Dutchman insisted. "Even if I don't win it, I still know that I drove a really good season. I think it will be very tough, so you just need to be realistic in the chances that we had throughout the season.

"To still be talking about being in this fight I think is already remarkable in the first place, and yeah for sure it has to do with the turnaround of the team, they never gave up and that's a strength of the team. I think it's very impressive."