Max Verstappen insisted he was not nervous about his chances of becoming a five-time Formula One world champion after storming to victory at Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix. 

Verstappen closed the gap to championship leader Lando Norris to 12 points heading into the season finale in Abu Dhabi, having recovered from a mid-season wobble.

In a largely incident-free race in Lusail, the major talking point came on lap seven, when Alpine's Pierre Gasly and the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg collided. 

With all drivers required to make two pit stops, many came in following the collision, though Norris and fellow McLaren title hopeful Oscar Piastri chose to stay out, a decision that would ultimately come back to bite them. 

While Piastri took the chequered flag in second ahead of Carlos Sainz, Norris could only manage fourth, which could have been one place further back had he not overtaken Kimi Antonelli on the penultimate lap. 

Norris knows that should he finish first, second, or third in Abu Dhabi, then he will become the 11th British driver to be a F1 champion, and he could still do so if he finishes outside the podium places, as long as he finishes ahead of Verstappen and Norris. 

But with the door ajar for another world title, Verstappen cut a calm and collected figure when asked about his chances of becoming just the second driver, after Michael Schumacher, to reign supreme for five years in a row. 

"It's possible now, but we will see," Verstappen said after claiming his 70th victory in F1. "I don't really worry about it too much."

It will be a three-way fight to the finish #F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/NKxjEH6PGv

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 30, 2025

With Verstappen failing to win a race from the Monaco Grand Prix up until the Italian Grand Prix in September, many predicted a two-horse race between Norris and Piastri. 

However, Verstappen hauled himself back into contention, winning five of the last eight races in the competition, as many victories as he managed in the previous 30. 

"This was an incredible race for us, we made the right call as a team to box under that safety car and, yeah, that was smart," Verstappen said of Red Bull's strategy. 

"Super happy to win here, we stayed in the fight until the end. Incredible."

On Red Bull's pace, Verstappen added: "There was a little offset because of it all, but for us, it was a very strong race on a weekend where I think it was a little tough. 

"But we still won the race and that was the most important."