Everyone at Red Bull believes in Verstappen's world title again

Verstappen gave up hope for a successful title defence early in the season. He stated in Jeddah that he was participating in the championship but not in the title race. McLaren was so far ahead that a fifth world title was completely unrealistic at that point.

With six Grands Prix to go, however, the belief is back in full. After victories in Monza and Baku, and a second place in Singapore - finishing ahead of the two McLarens -, the title battle seems completely revived. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will not only fight it out omg themselves, but they will also have to look over their shoulders.

It could be heard in Verstappen's tone when talking to the Dutch media on Thursday. While previously, Verstappen marked questions about the title battle hopeless or something he wasn't dealing with all year, he was suddenly talking about "catching up to McLaren" and a missed opportunity in Singapore.

The disappointment about Singapore perhaps lingered the longest. The fact that Verstappen was disappointed about not winning at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, and stated that he should actually have won there to become a world champion, shows the huge contrast. The Dutch driver shrugged after a mistake by Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Austria when he missed out a lot of points by saying nothing was at stake.

GPblog asked Verstappen in Austin if that feeling within the team had really changed. “There is no other goal, right?”, Verstappen first joked about the question.

Although Verstappen brushed it off as 'that is obvious', it is a very different approach from half a year ago. From ‘it doesn't matter if we drop points’, it is now ‘it is logical that we are going for the world title’.

It doesn't make a difference for Verstappen anyways. He goes about every weekend in the same way with the goal to get the most out of the car. As Helmut Marko also said: "We've already said it's up to him, and he delivers."

Even Marko now believes that Verstappen's fifth title is possible. The pole position for the sprint race in Austin was a sign for the Austrian that the RB21 is now competitive everywhere. However, Marko also stated that the turnaround may have come too late and that Red Bull has already missed out on a lot of points.

The top advisor said his star driver also needed some help from their rivals to win the title. “We can’t do it on our own — we need some help from McLaren,” he answered GPblog's question..

That help from McLaren came already on Saturday. Not only did Verstappen win the Sprint at the Circuit of the Americas, but he also saw Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris DNF after a crash in Turn 1. Verstappen thus gained another eight points on the duo.

However, it was not yet a cause for celebration for Verstappen, who was critical of his RB21 after the session. The balance of his Red Bull was not to his liking during the sprint race, so Verstappen knew it had to get better for qualifying and Sunday's Grand Prix.

Marko was very pleased with Verstappen in an exclusive conversation with GPblog after the Sprint race. Although it was 'just' a sprint race, the Dutchman gained quite a few points on his rivals.

There are still six Grands Prix and two Sprints on the calendar this Formula 1 season. In a regular race weekend, a maximum of 25 points can be earned, in a sprint weekend this number goes up to 33. This means that a maximum of 166 points are still on the table.

Piastri still holds the lead in the standings after the sprint race in the United States, with 336 points to his name. Teammate Norris follows in P2 with 314 points and Verstappen third with 281 points. That means a deficit of 55 points to Piastri and 33 points to Norris. A large one, but not unsurmountable.

Including the United States GP, Verstappen would have to make up just over 9 points per weekend on Piastri, and 5.5 points per weekend on Norris.

Catch the latest video straight from the F1 paddock after the exciting Sprint at COTA below!