Verstappen ‘very relaxed’ ahead of title decider as he reflects on ‘turning things around from difficult times'

Max Verstappen has insisted that he is feeling “very relaxed” ahead of the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Dutchman admitting that he is content with how he and Red Bull have been “turning things around from difficult times” during the second half of the season.

Verstappen enters the weekend in second place of the Drivers’ Championship and just 12 points adrift of leader Lando Norris, having dramatically closed the points gap following a strong run of form across the last eight rounds which has seen him take five victories.

Prior to the decisive event at the Yas Marina Circuit, Verstappen explained during Thursday’s media day that he was focused on other things in his life before arriving at the venue.

“I spent some time with my daughter,” the Red Bull driver said. “I figured some stuff out for GT3 for next year, figured out some stuff for my sim racing team as well, planning for next year. Pretty straightforward stuff before arriving here.”

Verstappen went on to detail how he is seemingly not feeling the pressure entering into the weekend, having not anticipated that he would still be in the championship fight given that he was 104 points adrift of former leader Oscar Piastri just a few months ago in August.

“I’m very relaxed, nothing to lose,” the 28-year-old reflected. “I’m just enjoying being here, but for me it’s not even about being here – I’ve been enjoying the second half of the season, working with the team and how we’ve been able to turn things around from difficult times.

“[We’ve gone from] having a debrief after the race, feeling very disappointed and frustrated with the performances, to just enjoying, smiling, having these wins again. It’s fantastic, so I’ll just take it.

“To me everything here is just a bonus and sitting here fighting for the title. That’s also what makes it really straightforward for me. We will just try to have a good weekend, but even then it’s not really in my control, so I guess I’ll just try to enjoy it.”

Looking back on the campaign, Verstappen struggled to pick out any particular incident that he would deem as one where the title might have gotten away from him.

“At the end of the day, it’s won over 24 races – some races go a bit better than others,” the four-time World Champion conceded. “A lot of the races we didn’t have a lot of pace, or enough pace to challenge for a win, but here we are.

“In general I’m just very proud of the season we’ve done, how we’ve come back as well in the second half. We’ll just try and keep it fun now until the end, but to always pick one particular moment or whatever, that’s always a hard one.”