Max Verstappen addresses the 69-point deficit to Oscar Piastri after back to back wins for Red Bull

Max Verstappen touched upon his championship point deficit to Oscar Piastri following the conclusion of the Azerbaijan GP. The Red Bull driver, who won the recently concluded race at Baku, reduced the deficit to 69 points, but has not given up the fight for his fifth F1 Championship.

Verstappen won back-to-back races in Italy and Azerbaijan in dominant fashion. He claimed the pole at Monza and went on to take the victory. In Azerbaijan, he repeated the same, and with two straight wins, he reduced the gaps as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris failed to increase their lead.

Currently, the Dutchman has 255 points to his name in 17 races and three sprints. Compared to him, Norris has 299 points, and Piastri has 324. This means Verstappen needs to score 70 more points in the upcoming races to take a shot at his fifth F1 title.

"Seven races to go and it's still 69 points, it's a lot," Verstappen said, speaking about his championship chances. "Basically, everything needs to go perfect from my side and then a bit of luck from their side I need as well. So it's still very tough." "I just go race by race, which I have been doing basically the whole season - just trying to do the best we can, try to score the most points that we can. Then after Abu Dhabi, we'll know," Verstappen further added. (via Sky SportsF1)

Going by the calculations, Max Verstappen needs to win or get maximum points in the upcoming races and sprints, while Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have to drop points to make it a three-way championship battle. However, it looks very unlikely.

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Oscar Piastri 'not yet worried' about Max Verstappen challenge

Following his crash at the Azerbaijan GP, Oscar Piastri revealed that he is not worried about Max Verstappen's title challenge. According to a recent report by the Dutch media house, De Telegraaf, Piastri remained unconcerned about Verstappen's recent resurgence.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing, Lando Norris of McLaren, and Oscar Piastri of McLaren on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 7th, 2025 in Monza, Italy - Source: Getty Images

The McLaren driver did not have a memorable outing at the Baku City Circuit race. He crashed in qualifying on Saturday, started his race from P9, but only to have a false start.

Following this, Piastri fell down the order and was running at the very back of the pack. The championship leader stayed in the race for only 52 seconds before crashing into the barrier. With this, he faced his first DNF of the season, and saw his championship gap get reduced.

Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas