Max Verstappen quips ‘you wouldn’t have seen me’ in a McLaren

Max Verstappen has quipped “you wouldn’t have seen me” if he was driving McLaren’s F1 car during the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver resisted a race-long challenge from the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim his fourth consecutive win at Suzuka on Sunday.

Verstappen’s masterful drive came after he took pole position with a magic lap in a car which is considered to be the fourth fastest on the grid, with McLaren currently boasting the best package in F1.

The four-time world champion joked after his victory that he would have won more comfortably had he been driving an orange car.

"When I came here, I didn't expect to win here - and after Friday, not at all," Verstappen told Dutch TV station Viaplay.

“Starting on pole was the most important thing this weekend. McLaren was faster I think, but they couldn't get into the DRS to make a move.

"I'm very happy with what I'm doing. I don't even want to think about if I'd been in that other car [McLaren]. Then you wouldn't have seen me.”

Asked if his performances feel as special to him as they are to everyone watching, Verstappen replied: "Yeah, it does.

“It also means that I really care, even though, of course, it's not been the easiest start to the year for us. You know, we are not where we want to be in terms of performance. I think that's no secret. But, yeah, this weekend, yeah, it's been really, just really, really nice.

"I don't listen to the positives and the negatives. I'm just in the middle, you know, so I just focus on my own performances. Just keep working, keep grinding."

Verstappen’s first win of the 2025 season has moved him to within a point of Norris in the drivers’ championship standings.

Max Verstappen hailed as ‘best driver in the world’

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner sung Verstappen’s praises by labelling the Dutchman as “the best driver in the world currently”.

“Max, without any debate, is the best driver in the world currently,” Horner told Sky Sports F1.

“But you’re a team. You’re not a driver and a car, you’re a team, and you win together and lose together. We’re working very hard.

“We know that this car has some vices. We know where we need to improve, and everybody is working very hard to achieve that.

“We turned things upside down this weekend to get a car into a window that Max could make use of, and Suzuka is a drivers’ circuit. But you’ve also got to have a car to be able to deliver, and credit to the engineering team as well this weekend for giving him something that he could finally work with.”