With three victories, a sprint win, and a second place in the last four Grand Prix, Max Verstappen has unexpectedly found himself in contention for a fifth world title. Even to his own surprise, he admits on the eve of the Mexican GP. “It’s a surprise, but I don’t mind.”
All the endgame scenarios have already been described on how the reigning world champion can crown an unthinkable comeback with another title. The gap with leaderboard leader Oscar Piastri has shrunk from 104 points to 40, but Verstappen’s attitude has not changed, as he repeats in Mexico City.
“That’s still the same,” he confirms. “In the worst case, I remain third, where I am now. Then nothing changes, right? Of course, I hope we have a chance to win every weekend. But,” he warns, “everything has to be perfect. If it works out: Great, it would be an amazing comeback. If it doesn’t, we can be proud of the last part of the season and the progress we’ve made in performance. But,” he says, “we’ll worry about that in Abu Dhabi.”
The only thing Verstappen is focusing on in the remaining five Grand Prix, which also includes two sprint numbers, is himself. The rules and decisions made by McLaren, the employer of Piastri and his closest pursuer Lando Norris, are ‘not his problem’. “The most important thing is that we have a competitive car. If that’s the case and we have a chance to beat them, we will. That’s really the only thing I’m focusing on.”
Whether he’s the hunted or, as is now the case, the hunter: that doesn’t matter to Verstappen either. “You want to win, including the championship. I’ve been an early champion and a very late champion. That we’re still in the championship is already a surprise, but I don’t mind. I consider that as positive pressure. We can’t afford bad luck or mistakes,” says Verstappen. “But the team has proven in the past that we can usually perform well under pressure. And we’re going to try to do that until the last race.”
