Verstappen doesn’t rule out F1 title after victory in Azerbaijan

Max Verstappen, after his resounding victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, does not rule out the possibility of conquering his fifth world title in Formula 1. The Dutch driver has closed the gap with the championship leader, Oscar Piastri.After his triumph in Monza and with seven races to go, Verstappen is 69 points ahead of Piastri. The weekend in Baku was marked by errors from Piastri, who suffered an accident in qualifying and another on the first lap of Sunday’s race.The classification on Saturday in Baku was full of incidents, with interruptions that led to a varied starting grid. Verstappen achieved pole position, while Lando Norris was in seventh position.In Sunday’s race, with Piastri out of the game on the first lap, Norris couldn’t take advantage of the opportunity and finished in the starting position, reducing the lead over Verstappen to 44 points.Verstappen’s perfect weekend included his sixth Grand Slam (pole, fastest lap, victory, and leading every lap), tying Lewis Hamilton for second in F1 history.

This weekend has been incredible for us. Of course, last weekend was already great. But yes, for us to win here again is fantastic.

Max Verstappen

Verstappen commented that the season has had ups and downs, but that at least it has had two consecutive very positive weekends.

When asked about his chances in the championship, Verstappen replied that he does not rely on hope.

There are seven races left and still a 69-point difference. It’s a lot.

Max Verstappen

Verstappen added that he needs everything to go perfectly and also a bit of luck to catch up with McLaren. Therefore, he prefers to focus on each race, seeking to obtain the most points possible. The final decision will be made after Abu Dhabi.Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, has highlighted Verstappen’s consecutive victories.

Red Bull seems to have improved. I think they have made a genuine improvement. They had updates in Monza. It seems they have found a way to exploit these improvements with the setup. Max and Red Bull will be regular contenders for victories, and Max is definitely a contender for the drivers’ championship. So we have a lot of work ahead. We need to stay focused, improve, and we will try again.

Andrea Stella