Verstappen vows to quit F1 the moment he stops believing he is the best driver

Max Verstappen has set out the one condition that would end his Formula 1 career: the moment he no longer believes he is the best driver in the field. The four-time world champion made the admission to media ahead of the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos, where he subsequently charged from 21st on the grid to finish second behind Lando Norris.

“I always think so,” Verstappen said when asked whether he still rates himself as the top driver in the paddock. “Otherwise, I’d stop!”

The Dutchman has not won a championship since 2024. Norris claimed the title last year, and Kimi Antonelli wrapped up the 2026 championship in Mexico earlier this month. Yet Verstappen insists the self-belief that has defined his career dates back to his debut season with Toro Rosso in 2015, when he was just 17.

“You do have that thought, but in 2015 I also knew that I still had a lot to learn,” he said. “But I already had it in my head that I had the potential to be the best, yes.”

This season has been a difficult one for Red Bull. The team’s first campaign with its own Ford-powered units started well off the pace, and Verstappen did not take his maiden win of the year until the Bahrain Grand Prix in October — a race relocated to Sepang after the original Sakhir event was cancelled. Victories in Singapore and Mexico have since followed, and he heads into the final three rounds second in the drivers’ standings, 17 points ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.

“I think I’ve just had a good season,” Verstappen said. “It’s just that in Formula 1, you’re also dependent on your car, of course. Lately, we’ve had things reasonably well sorted again. And then the victories come.”

His São Paulo recovery drive illustrated the point. Starting 21st after an engine penalty, he picked his way through the field to second despite reporting a “night and day” change in car behaviour after switching to slick tyres. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said no simulation could have predicted the performance, noting that Verstappen was “beating the sim on a regular basis”.

It was the third consecutive year Verstappen has reached the podium from deep on the grid at Interlagos. With Russell and Lewis Hamilton pressing hard behind him in the standings, and Red Bull battling McLaren for third in the constructors’ championship, the closing rounds of 2026 offer him a chance to cement a strong finish to a season that began in adversity.