Verstappen’s title hopes fade after Brazil GP podium from the pit lane

Verstappen’s Brazil sprint race earnings

On Saturday, November 8, 2025, the race weekend started poorly for Max Verstappen. He finished fourth in the 24-lap Sprint race, earning only five championship points.

His Red Bull RB21 car suffered from extreme bouncing, making it hard to drive quickly. He finished fourth in the 24-lap Sprint, 4.4s behind winner Lando Norris, banking five points. This was an early sign of the team’s problems before the crucial qualifying session later that day.

Q1 disaster: setup gamble backfired

Following the poor Sprint performance, the Red Bull team made a significant, failed setup change. Later on November 8, this change caused a Q1 elimination for Verstappen, as he managed only the 16th fastest time.

This was a shock; he missed advancing to Q2 by 0.283 seconds. Both Red Bull-branded entries struggled in qualifying: Verstappen (Red Bull) was out in Q1 (P16) and Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) was also eliminated (P19). Verstappen told his team he had “zero grip” after the setup change.

Red Bull’s history in the Brazilian GP

Given their strong history at Interlagos, the team’s failure in qualifying on November 8 was excruciating. Red Bull Racing has won the Brazilian Grand Prix 6 times since its first victory in 2009.

Max Verstappen has won the race twice, securing victories in 2019 and 2024. The 2025 qualifying result was a significant embarrassment for the team, as they were the reigning race winners and expected a strong result here.

Pit lane start and car changes

To fix the car’s setup, the Red Bull team reverted to the car specification used in the Sprint for the race on Sunday, November 9. Making these extensive changes broke the strict parc fermé rules.

As a result, Verstappen was forced to start the 71-lap race from the pit lane, in 20th and last position. This penalty exists to stop teams from making significant performance changes after the cars have been qualified.

An incredible drive to the podium

Despite the massive setback, Verstappen drove spectacularly in the November 9 race. Starting from the 20th, he gained 17 positions to finish in third place.

Early in the race, he suffered a slow puncture that forced an unscheduled stop. This incredible drive secured him 15 crucial championship points. He crossed the finish line 8.7 seconds behind the winner, Lando Norris.

Title hopes fade with 49-point gap

The incredible drive was not enough to save Verstappen’s title hopes. He entered Sunday 39 points behind Norris; after Norris’s win and Verstappen’s P3, the gap grew to 49.

Verstappen scored only 20 points total over the weekend. With only three races left, this huge deficit means the 2025 title is almost impossible to win, as his rivals must drop out of the race.

Verstappen falls to third in standings

Following the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 9, the championship deficit caused Verstappen to drop one place in the standings. He now has 341 total points for the 2025 season.

Lando Norris is leading with 390 points, and Oscar Piastri is in second place with 366 points. The 49-point gap means Verstappen can only win the title if his rivals have bad luck and fail to finish the remaining races.

Remaining races and available points

The 2025 F1 season has only three race weekends after the November 9 Grand Prix. A total of 83 championship points is still available for any single driver.

The final schedule includes the Las Vegas Grand Prix (November 22), the Qatar Grand Prix (November 30), and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (December 7). The Qatar race weekend will also feature a Sprint race, which offers an additional 8 points to the winner.

Constructor’s championship battle tightens

Red Bull’s difficult weekend in Brazil also hurt their position in the Constructors’ Championship. Red Bull now sits in third place with 369 points after the November 9 race.

With strong finishes from Kimi Antonelli (P2) and George Russell (P4), the Mercedes team jumped ahead into second place with 398 points. This 29-point gap between Mercedes and Red Bull puts pressure on the team to score points.

Pit lane to the podium

Verstappen’s spectacular drive from the pit lane (20th position) to the podium (3rd position) on November 9 placed him in an exclusive group. He gained an impressive 17 positions in the race.

It’s a rare achievement to reach the podium from a pit-lane start, underlining the quality of his recovery drive. Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are the only other drivers who have achieved this feat.

Norris’s 2025 record-breaking season

Lando Norris, Verstappen’s main rival, had an excellent performance in Brazil that helped his title chances. His win on November 9 marked his 10th victory of the 2025 season.

This makes him the first driver in the history of McLaren Racing to achieve 10 Grand Prix wins in a single season. Norris also secured 17 podium finishes in 2025 after the Brazil race. This level of success explains why the championship gap to Verstappen is 49 points.

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Red bull’s next race track focus

Following the disastrous Brazilian weekend, Red Bull’s focus immediately shifted to the next scheduled race. The Las Vegas Grand Prix, scheduled for November 22, will be challenging due to its long straights and low-downforce corners.

In the 2024 Las Vegas race, Verstappen finished fourth, and his teammate Sergio Pérez finished tenth. Red Bull will rely on the car’s high straight-line speed to score maximum points in the three remaining races.

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This slideshow was made with AI assistance and human editing.