78 points ahead, 10 races… Can Max Verstappen really be threatened for the drivers’ title?

Max Verstappen had a strange first part of the season. It's as if there have been two ultra-different scenarios in one, with the Miami Grand Prix as the major turning point of the season. It's simple, before the Florida round, Max was racing against the competition with 4 victories in the first 5 races, his only defeat coming after a retirement due to mechanical reasons in Melbourne, Australia.

On the evening of China, where he had just won the two races of the weekend (with the sprint on Saturday), we imagined that the Dutchman would quietly sail towards a 4th world title in a row, with a new one in his sights. record for victories, although he had just established a stratospheric one the previous year (19 successes).

And, McLaren brought major changes to the car Lando Norris in Florida, and with the help of a safety car brought out at the best of times, the Papaya team finally won its first victory since 2021… and launched its comeback towards Red Bull in the Manufacturers' championship (there are only 42 points difference).

4 races without winning for Max Verstappen

Lando Norris and Oscar piastri were often the fiercest competitors of Max Verstappen who had to work hard to win in Canada, at Imola and in Spain, then Mercedes ended up joining the party by also making improvements in May, finishing the first part of the season with a bang with three victories in the last four races.

Max Verstappen, for his part, has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix last June, and therefore remains in four races without the slightest success. A negative dynamic which still deserves to be attenuated according to the main person concerned. “I'm sure that if we had started from pole (which he signed regularly) without the grid engine penalty, we would have been in a position to win the race. he clarified. No doubt. But one thing is certain: mass is no longer said when the lights go out and it has recently become almost impossible to predict the identity of the winner of each race.

For its part, Ferrari, which was Red Bull's strongest rival before Miami, had a complicated end to spring with a development that brought more problems than performance gains, but the Team intends to re-invite itself into the fight for victories between now and the end of the season. So many different threats for Max Verstappen and a Red Bull team who will have to manage this renewed competitiveness among their opponents.

Lately, there has been a lot of color at the forefront. © Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

But should Super Max go so far as to worry about the quest for a new world champion title? In any case, he ensures that he sleeps well at night. “I'm not really worried, he said at a press conference. I'm not really thinking about Abu Dhabi at the moment. I want us to improve as a team, to make the car even faster. If we succeed, it will make our lives easier because it has been a little more difficult recently (…) These are tiny margins, and that is why qualification is increasingly important. We must learn from these last few more difficult weeks. »

With 78 points ahead of Lando Norris, Max Verstappen still has plenty to see ahead. It's hard to imagine him under pressure at the moment. Especially since despite their good respective forms, the McLaren and Mercedes drivers did not even manage to gain points from the Batave between Miami and Belgium, who did not benefit from the fastest package. Over the period, the Batavian nevertheless recorded 167 points, compared to 141 for Norris, 131 for Hamilton and 129 in Piastri.

Figures which show the consistency of the Red Bull driver, and which will inevitably give him a certain confidence before tackling these last ten races. Better, since Miami, he has only finished twice behind Norris in Grand Prix (Monaco and Hungary). Enough to maintain and regularly increase its lead.

If there's one that Max is particularly wary of, it's his great friend from McLaren. “If you look at the championship, the closest is Lando. But there are several teams capable of winning races today. It's tight. Details and running the car in the right window can make huge differences. We'll see what happens, it's still difficult to say."

Norris…or anyone else?

At Mercedes, despite the positive dynamic, we can't really imagine fighting for the drivers' championship, while Lewis Hamilton is 127 points behind the Dutchman and George Russell is 161 points behind. “At the moment there is only one driver who can beat him in the championship and that is Lando, because Max has had a great start to the season. But who knows? We were talking with Lewis about the fact that when he started, there were only 17 races on the calendar, so there would only have been three rounds from today if that was still the case . There are opportunities, but it's hard to imagine anyone being able to catch Max. »

Apart from a strong end to the season from Norris, Max should therefore rather be calm. Hard to imagine Charles Leclerc, 3rd in the championship with 100 points, join the party, especially given Ferrari's form in recent weeks. Same observation for Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, who are even further behind. In other words, if the Dutchman doesn't screw up, and if Lando Norris doesn't win most of the races by the end of the season, the deal could already be over.

ALSO READ > Kyle Larson: “I would have a better chance of winning in F1 than Verstappen in NASCAR”