Max Verstappen says the pressure is not on him in the championship battle, but on the two McLaren drivers, where there is a potential distraction as they battle each other heading into this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Lando Norris is one point ahead of Oscar Piastri with four laps to go, while Verstappen is 36 behind Norris after recent strong form has seen the Dutchman take three wins and three more podium finishes in the past six races. Verstappen says his performance and ability to get back into contention is already making the year a success, and he has nothing to lose no matter how the final races go.
“For me there is no pressure,” said Verstappen. “Even if I don’t win it, I still know I’ve had a really good season. I can happily say that it’s going to be very tough to try to repeat the season I’ve had with people on the grid.
“You just have to be realistic about the opportunities we’ve had all season. To still be talking about being in this battle is remarkable in the first place.”
“It certainly has to do with the team’s turnaround. They never gave up and that’s the strength of the team. Nevertheless, I think when you’re more than 100 points behind and we’re still talking about being in this battle, it’s very impressive.”
With the two McLaren drivers in the lead, Verstappen says the fact they are battling each other as well as he can be to his advantage, although he would prefer the performance advantage that Norris and Piastri have had for most of the season.
“Certainly, the distraction may be a bit there at McLaren between the two drivers, but at the same time they still have a very fast car,” he said. “So if you were to tell me what I would like, just create a distraction. I don’t care anyway. Just give me the fastest car and I’ll drive it as fast as I need to.
“It can be fun for me, but at the same time we just have to make sure we have a faster car. We have to be ahead of them. It’s that simple.”
Verstappen also sees Mercedes and Ferrari potentially having a role to play if both teams can be particularly competitive at an upcoming venue, as he believes Red Bull needs a weekend where it can close the gap by a significant margin.
“First of all, we also have to be faster than them until the end of the season to close the gap,” he said. “So we’ll see. We’ve had some good laps with the gap closing. But now that we’re down four races, it’s still quite a big gap. I have to score a lot more points every weekend, which is not that easy.
“I mean, if you gave me the 2023 season, how everything was, and you tell me I’m 36 points behind with four races to go, I’m like, ‘Yeah, no problem. Easy.’ But of course this season was a little different.
“So it’s a matter of optimizing everything and bringing the weekend to a successful conclusion. And besides, we probably need a bit of luck in one lap to create a bigger difference. But we’re going to give everything. And whether that will be enough at the end of the year, I don’t know. But there’s not much to lose either. I mean, at worst we have P3 and at best you can win a championship.”
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