Toto Wolff says Max Verstappen is very much alive in the title race against McLaren’s Oscar Piastri 

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has claimed that Max Verstappen winning the 2025 F1 title may be a long shot at the moment, but things can "swing quickly" in his favor. The Austrian boss also added that one can never rule out the Dutchman, especially now that he is back in with somewhat of a chance of the title against McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen claimed his fourth victory of the 2025 F1 season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, making it two from the last two races. The reigning world champion was seemingly out of the title race, but with a DNF for Oscar Piastri at Baku, he is now just 69 points behind the Aussie driver in the standings.

Many fans have been wondering if Verstappen can actually pull this off, seeing that Red Bull seem to have found some pace in recent weeks. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also believes that he can achieve this, even though it is a "long shot".

"Max Verstappen, you always need to be wary of what he can achieve, especially seeing that that is actually back on the cards. But I think what's the get, 50 plus points, or what is it, 69? Well, that's a long shot," Wolff said while speaking after the Azerbaijan GP. [via GPblog]

"Things need to work in his favour. But you can see a DNF for the championship leader and everything, and Max scoring 25 points. So that can swing quickly," he added.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull will be carrying significant momentum into the upcoming Singapore GP, having won the last two races. McLaren, on the other hand, had one of their toughest weekends of the season at Baku.

Whether Verstappen even has a car capable of competing with the Papaya team in the remaining races, let alone overcoming his 69-point deficit to Piastri, remains to be seen.

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What Max Verstappen had to say about his title chances after the Azerbaijan GP

Max Verstappen after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Source: Getty

After the Azerbaijan GP, Max Verstappen claimed that almost everything will need to go perfectly from his end for him to be in contention for the 2025 drivers' title come Abu Dhabi GP. The 4x world champion also added that he would need to rely on some bad luck for both the McLaren drivers ahead of him in the standings at the moment.

Speaking to the media after his race win on Sunday, Verstappen explained his views on a potential late-season title bid.

"Basically everything needs to go perfectly from my side, and then a bit of luck from their side I need as well, so it’s still very tough," said Verstappen. [via Formula1.com]

Speaking in the post-race press conference, the 27-year-old also said that he does not rely on hope, and wasn't thinking about the permutations and combinations that can potentially make him world champion again. He added that he is only focused on performing to the best of his ability until the final race of the season.