Why Toto Wolff says the "ship has sailed" for Max Verstappen's F1 title hopes

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff doesn't believe Max Verstappen can still keep McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from the 2025 Formula 1 title after falling 49 points behind following Brazil.

Red Bull's reigning world champion Verstappen suffered a poor start to the Brazil Grand Prix weekend with fourth in Saturday's sprint and an unprecedented Q1 exit on pure pace.

But from the pitlane, the Dutchman mounted an extraordinary comeback to finish on the podium behind Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

With championship leader Lando Norris winning both the sprint and the grand prix itself, however, he moved 24 points clear of team-mate Piastri and 49 ahead of Verstappen.

So Wolff thinks it's now game over for Verstappen and his aspirations of a fifth straight world title given there are just three rounds remaining. 

"That ship had sailed," Wolff said. "I think just let them race, make no contact, but the gap that Lando has now is very, very solid. But he can't afford a DNF either, because then it swings in the other direction.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes

Photo by: Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images

"Obviously, from a spectator standpoint you would want to see that going into the last race, equal points or similar points, but [Norris] was impressive in the last few races, how he held the nerves and how he scored the points."

Wolff agreed with his McLaren counterpart Andrea Stella's conviction that the battle between Norris and Piastri won't spill over. When asked if the Woking team's situation got more tense, he said: "Absolutely, but as a team principal, you just need to hold the grip on it and not allow any shots from outside.

"I think how they handle it is very good, letting them race. I don't see a situation where they're taking each other out."

When Stella was asked if the 2025 championship was now Norris' to lose, he replied: "For me the only way I look at the classification is to go one race at a time and make sure that we maximise the points we score.

"To look at it as it's now a championship that Lando owns, he doesn't own, it's so academic. We just have to make sure that we stay focused on ourselves and focused on executing weekends like Lando has executed here in Brazil or in Mexico, and for instance with Oscar make sure that our opportunities are capitalised.

"Honestly, when it comes to the points we will take a look at the end of Las Vegas where we are, and likewise after Qatar and Abu Dhabi."