Max Verstappen in the Singapore paddock - Photo: Race Pictures

Brundle's warning: Verstappen 'smells an outside chance of the title'

14:36, 06 Oct

byLuke-John Buckle

Martin Brundle is adamant that Max Verstappen is on the McLaren driver's radar with an outside chance of winning the world championship.

“He’s now living in the heads of the McLaren players.”

- Martin Brundle

McLaren have had the quickest car for most of the season as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have won 12 races between them.

Despite this, Verstappen has taken a step forward with two wins from the last three races for Red Bull.

Brundle explained on Sky Sports F1 that he feels Verstappen is now an outside factor in the world championship battle.

The former Formula 1 driver said: "We know how good Max is. The team seems calm. They seem relaxed. He’s driving beautifully. They certainly have improved the car.

“And you know why, he just smells an outside chance of a championship. A lot of things have got to work in his favour between now and then.

“But he’s now, I believe, he’s now living in the heads of the McLaren players.”

Max Verstappen in the Red Bull garage - Photo: Race Pictures

Verstappen is now 63 points behind championship leader Piastri with six rounds to go and has a tall order to clinch his fifth title.

The Dutchman feels Red Bull needs to dominate more in order to get on terms with the two McLaren drivers in the championship standings.

Laurent Mekies was pleased with Red Bull's performance in Singapore

Red Bull introduced an update to the floor at the Italian Grand Prix before going on to win at Monza and in Azerbaijan.

This was a significant step forward, but there were some question marks around whether that pace could translate into the high downforce setup of Singapore.

Mekies was very happy to see Verstappen fight for victory as he finished in second place for Red Bull.

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