Former Mercedes boss: "Won't be a walk in the park for Verstappen"

Former vice president of Mercedes motorsport Norbert Haug is looking forward to a blood-curdling finale like everyone else but stresses that the battle is not yet over. Max Verstappen enters the final five races with a lead, but according to Haug 'he is not there yet.'

Haug discusses the following proposition: 'If Max Verstappen keeps driving like this and the car stays in one piece, no one can take the title away from him in this form.' "This statement seems too bold to me," begins the 68-year-old German in his column for Sportbuzzer.de. "A retirement for Verstappen and a win for Lewis Hamilton would mean Hamilton converting a twelve-point deficit into a thirteen-point lead."

Haug sees balance between Verstappen and Hamilton reversing in no time

"I don't want to make a prediction for the outcome of the race, but the finale will definitely not be a 'walk in the park' for Verstappen. You can win or lose the Formula 1 championship by one point, as we saw Hamilton do in 2007 and 2008. Niki Lauda even won by half a point in 1984," Haug continues.

He also shines his light on whether Mercedes and Hamilton are making unusually many mistakes this season. "Driving confidently in the lead is difficult enough and laying the right foundation is no less difficult," writes the former vice president of Mercedes Motorsport. "To put in the best possible performance time after time under extreme pressure from an equal or sometimes even superior opponent is even more difficult," Haug concludes.