Max Verstappen hands Red Bull instruction after F1 'rollercoaster' ride

Max Verstappen has told his Red Bull team that their 2025 season proves to "never give up" following a "rollercoaster" ride.

Verstappen narrowly missed out on a fifth straight title, falling two points short of Lando Norris in the season finale after a remarkable second half of the season, in which he won six of the final 10 races, along with two seconds and two thirds, plus a Sprint win in the United States.

Following the Dutch GP, he was 104 points behind the dominant McLaren of Oscar Piastri before a wobble for Piastri allowed both Norris and the Dutchman to leapfrog the Australian in a year Red Bull said goodbye to Christian Horner. 

The long-time boss was sacked following the British GP, with the team also battling performance issues with the recalcitrant RB21 machine until late upgrades transformed the platform.

Following the near-miss of matching Michael Schumacher's five straight titles, Verstappen detailed his pride at his Red Bull team.

"It's been a massive rollercoaster for us," Verstappen told media, including RacingNews365. 

"Of course, the first half [of the year] had some nice moments, but mainly tough moments and some really tough races and feelings.

"But I am very proud of how we never gave up, and it is also a lesson for the future, for everyone, that even when it looks like you're out of it, you never give up.

"You keep working hard to try and understand your issues, and then you never know what can happen." 

Detailing the finale, Verstappen explained how he was watching the race at times, in the hope calamity would befall Norris.

"I just kept looking at the screens to see if something would pop up," he explained.

"The race itself went really well, and I was just enjoying sitting in the car and driving it. And every straight you keep looking if something happens, but at the same time, that's part of racing. So I was not really too fussed about it."