Max Verstappen makes “luck” admission over beating McLaren duo to fifth F1 title

Max Verstappen has admitted that he will need “a little bit of luck” in one of the remaining four rounds to beat the McLaren duo to the title.

Verstappen sits 36 points behind Lando Norris ahead of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

While Verstappen has won three of the last five races to move back into unlikely F1 title contention, it’s still not in his own hands.

McLaren had a significant pace advantage last time out in Mexico.

Norris won ahead of Charles Leclerc, with his final advantage over 30 seconds at the chequered flag.

Verstappen is aware that he will need a freak result at one of the remaining rounds to have a realistic chance of securing a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.

“We had some good rounds where the gap came down, but now with four races it’s still a pretty big gap,” Verstappen told reporters in Brazil.

“I need to score a lot more points every single weekend, which is not that straightforward. I mean, if you would give me 2023 season, with 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 this season has been a little bit different, so it comes down to us optimising everything and nailing the weekend.

“We probably need a little bit of luck on one round to create a bigger offset, but we’re going to give it all. And if that’s going to be enough at the end of the year, I don’t know, but there’s also not much to lose. I mean, worst case we have P3, and best case you can win a championship.”

“No pressure” on Verstappen

Verstappen was over 100 points behind Oscar Piastri after the Australian’s victory at Zandvoort.

Since then, Verstappen has been F1’s in-form driver, with the RB21 coming alive after a series of upgrades and adjustments to how they set up the car.

As a result, Verstappen believes there’s no additional pressure.

“For me there’s no pressure,” Verstappen added. “Even if I don’t win it, I still know that I drove a really good season. I think it will be very tough, so you just need to be realistic in the chances that we had throughout the season.

“To still be talking about being in this fight I think is already remarkable in the first place, and yeah for sure it has to do with the turnaround of the team, they never gave up and that’s a strength of the team. I think it’s very impressive.”