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Max Verstappen has played down his chances of winning a fourth consecutive World Drivers’ Championship at this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver, who scored a dramatic victory in the rain-affected Sao Paulo Grand Prix three weeks ago, said his triumph did not prove all his problems were resolved after a run of 10 races without victory.
Speaking to reporters in Las Vegas, he said he was not sure he would win again to capture the title in 2024.
“At the moment it’s difficult to say because if you look at the last races in the dry, of course we didn’t have the pace… It’s not that, because we won under the rain in Brazil, suddenly everything is sorted and everything seems perfect again.
“Of course it gave me a good championship position, but I also have to be realistic: we are not the fastest.
“I hope we can be competitive here. It’s still very unknown with the track temperatures, of course, and like last year very cold.”
The Dutchman leads McLaren’s Lando Norris by 62 points in the title race with three Grands Prix remaining – and 60 points available from the final two races.
This requires Norris to beat Verstappen by three points in Las Vegas to maintain his title challenge.
“For me the pressure comes from me because I always want to do well, every weekend,” Verstappen said. “And it’s not necessarily about the championship.
“I’m just trying to enjoy the weekend too and see. How competitive we can be. It’s not decided yet, so we still have points to score.
“In reality, what matters most is my speed and the quality of the car.
“In the last races McLaren has been the fastest, but last year Ferrari was very fast here and it can be different every year.
“Other teams have enjoyed improvements from last time here, so it’s hard to say what may happen here at the moment.”
– The drivers are a little fed up with the FIA -
Verstappen also expressed surprise at the sudden departure of race director Niels Wittich.
The FIA said on the eve of the Grand Prix that the German had left his post to “pursue new opportunities”, but Wittich said he had been fired with three races remaining this year.
Rui Marques replaced him.
“I think everyone was very surprised to see this with three races to go,” said Verstappen, who added his support to demands from the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association for the FIA to treat them “like adults” with more consultation and transparency.
The drivers also asked President Mohammed Ben Sulayem to “take into account his own tone and language when speaking to, or even about, our member drivers.”
“We just wanted to send a letter to make sure everyone is aware of our concerns and what we want to work on and we’ll see what comes out of that,” Verstappen said.
“At the moment nothing has happened. I think there was a lot going on with the FIA anyway that they had to deal with – now we will see in the races to come and we will continue to engage. “
Mercedes’ George Russell said the FIA had not responded to their open letter and admitted that drivers, in general, were “a bit fed up with the whole situation”.
“Making change or keeping promises seems a little more difficult,” he said. “Maybe the FIA or the president didn’t recognize how serious we all felt.”
str/mw
