Max Verstappen says the stress within the championship combat shouldn’t be on him however on McLaren’s two drivers, who might be distracted by battling one another forward of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Lando Norris leads Oscar Piastri by one level with 4 races remaining, whereas Verstappen has been in good type of late with three wins and three podiums prior to now six races, leaving him 36 factors away from Norris. Verstappen stated his efficiency and talent to get again into the combat has already led to success this yr, that means he has nothing to lose regardless of how the ultimate race unfolds.
“There is not any stress for me,” Verstappen stated. “Even when I did not win, I do know I had a extremely good season. I am pleased to say that attempting to copy what I’ve achieved with the folks on the grid could be very troublesome.”
“Now we have to be life like concerning the possibilities we had all through the season. The truth that we’re nonetheless speaking about going into this combat is already outstanding within the first place.”
“Definitely, it has to do with the workforce’s turnaround. They by no means gave up and that is the power of the workforce. Nonetheless, I believe it is fairly spectacular that we’re speaking about coming into this battle with a 100-plus level lead.”
With McLaren’s two drivers within the lead, Verstappen stated he would fairly have the efficiency benefit that Norris and Piastri have had for many of the season, however the truth that they’re competing in opposition to one another as a lot as he’s might work in his favor.
“Definitely at McLaren there could also be a little bit of a distraction between the 2 drivers, however on the similar time they nonetheless have a really quick automobile,” he stated. “So should you inform me what you need, simply let me know. I do not care anyway. Give me the quickest automobile and I will drive as quick as you want.”
“That is perhaps good for me, however on the similar time we’d like to verify we’ve a sooner automobile. We should be in entrance of them. It is so simple as that.”
Verstappen additionally feels Crimson Bull wants a weekend to shut the hole considerably, and sees Mercedes and Ferrari doubtlessly having a job to play if both workforce might be notably aggressive on the upcoming venues.
“To begin with, we should be sooner than them and shut the hole till the top of the season,” he stated. “So, we’ll see. We have had some good rounds the place the hole has closed. However after 4 races, there’s nonetheless a fairly large hole left. We have to get extra factors each weekend, and it isn’t that straightforward.”
“So should you instructed me what the 2023 season was going to appear to be and also you instructed me I used to be 36 factors down with 4 races left, I would be like, ‘Oh, no drawback. It is simple.'” However in fact this season was a little bit totally different.
“In the long run, it is as much as us to optimize all the things and make the weekend profitable. Apart from, we are going to in all probability want a little bit little bit of luck in a single spherical to create an even bigger offset. However we’re going to give all the things, and we do not know if it is going to be sufficient on the finish of the yr. However we do not have a lot to lose, which implies that within the worst case we will likely be third and in the very best case we are going to win the championship.”
