Verstappen Accepts Losing Title Is Real Possibility: 'Not Going To Change My Life'
F1Friday, 30 August 2024 at 11:00
Despite his significant lead in the drivers' championship, Max Verstappen seems to be starting to accept that he can still possibly lose it.
Speaking ahead of the 2024 Italian Grand Prix and Monza Circuit, Max Verstappen led the championship by exactly 70 points ahead of McLaren driver Lando Norris in second place.
With nine race weekends to go until the end of the season, Norris had to close the gap to the Dutchman by more than 7,78 points on average every single race weekend if he wanted to win.
Considering that the McLaren driver managed to close the gap only four times in the past 15 races, many might say Verstappen has to have this championship firmly in his hands.
However, after being beaten by more than 22 seconds in the race preceding the Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen understood the battle would be very challenging, and he seemingly already accepted the possibility that he might not win. He told the media:
"Seventy points, that can very quickly tip over. 'Do I want to win the title?'. Yes, of course. But if I don't win, it's not going to change my life either."
"I'm doing everything I can to make the car faster. But whether that's enough, I don't know. But the way things are going now, I didn't expect either, with such a start."
"He [Norris] knows what he and his team have to do. We really have to do everything we can to sort this out, and we will. So I shouldn't expect to be in the lead I have now, I really want to win a few more races."
Max Verstappen on the podium after winning the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix
The last race that Verstappen won was the Spanish Grand Prix- five races ago. At that point, it was unimaginable that the triple world champion might go for so many races without a victory.
Although it was clear already in Spain that Lando Norris in McLaren was faster. Red Bull made a mistake somewhere in the development of their car, and the 26-year-old is now dependent on his team to fix the problem. He added:
"Would I like to win it? Yes, of course. But it's not in my hands with the performance of the car. Because I just try to do the best I can. Try to give feedback; try to make it faster."
"If that's going to be enough to the end of the year, I don't know. But I do know that we're going to give it everything we have as a team."
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