SAO PAULO :Max Verstappen said he had no pressure and nothing to lose as he seeks to close the gap in the Formula One title battle with McLaren’s front-running favourites Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Speaking to reporters at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Red Bull’s reigning champion said he would need some luck to slash the 36-point deficit to Norris but he would be going “all-in” to try and do it.
McLaren’s Norris is one point clear of his Australian teammate Piastri with four rounds, and two sprint races, remaining.
Verstappen had looked out of the running at the end of August, when he was 104 points behind then-leader Piastri, but he has roared back into contention and taken three wins in the last five races.
He has spoken of the need for perfection in the remaining rounds to have a chance of a fifth successive title, but he emphasised on Thursday that anything from now on was also a bonus.
“Probably we need a little bit of luck on one round to create a bigger offset, but we’re going to give it all,” said the Dutch driver, who won in Brazil last year from 17th on the starting grid.
“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 are P3 (third) and best case, you can win a championship.
“There is an opportunity, of course, that we can win it, so we are going for it, all in,” added Verstappen, winner of five of 20 races so far this season.
Norris has won six and Piastri seven.
“For me there’s no pressure. Even if I don’t win it, I still know that I drove a really good season,” said Verstappen.
“I mean, to still be talking about being in this fight, I think, is already remarkable in the first place… when you’re over 100 points behind, and then still we’re talking about being in this fight, I think it’s very impressive.”
(Writing by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
