Pressure, because Max Verstappen suddenly has a shot at a fifth world title? Not at all, says the Dutchman in the run-up to the Grand Prix of São Paulo. The pressure, he says, is on McLaren rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. “They have the fastest car.”
He is 36 points behind World Championship leader Norris, and 35 behind second-placed Piastri. “And a few races ago, it was more than a hundred points,” Verstappen calculates. “So the fact that we (Red Bull and he) are even in contention for the title again is impressive.” He doesn’t feel any pressure. “Because I have nothing to lose: in the worst case, I’ll finish third, in the best case, champion.”
The fastest car is still in the hands of McLaren, according to Verstappen. The fact that Norris and Piastri could potentially get in each other’s way in the title fight as teammates, the Dutchman takes note of. “I’d rather have that kind of distraction and the fastest car, like they do.”
To seriously catch up with the pair, and thus increase the pressure, Verstappen needs a good weekend in Brazil. There’s a Grand Prix and a sprint race on the schedule, so there are 33 points up for grabs. “The gap is still large. We need to perform well and maybe even have a bit of extra luck one weekend.”
After the weekend in Brazil, there are still Grand Prix races in Las Vegas, Qatar (plus sprint race), and Abu Dhabi on the schedule.
