Verstappen: ‘We need a little bit of luck’ to win fifth world title

19:37, 06 Nov

Updated: 19:55, 06 Nov

byOlly Darcy

Max Verstappen said that he and Red Bull "need a little bit of luck in one round" to see him stage a stunning comeback and become World Champion.

"The distraction may be a little bit there at McLaren."

- Max Verstappen

The four-time world champion sits just 36 points behind championship leader Lando Norris, cutting a 104-point deficit in the span of just five Grands Prix to keep him in contention for a fifth consecutive world championship.

However, after Norris' dominant win at the Mexico City Grand Prix, seeing the Brit leapfrog teammate Oscar Piastri to lead the championship by a single point, the Dutchman knows a tall task is ahead of him at the upcoming Brazilian Grand Prix.

"By being faster than them. That would be nice," Verstappen laughed in the Sao Paulo paddock before the penultimate sprint weekend of the season gets underway.

max verstappen oscar piastri lando norris imola 2024 planetf1

Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen are the three remaining in the fight for the World Championship - Photo: Race Pictures

He continued: "But first of all, we also need to be faster than them to the end of the season to close the gap down. We had some good rounds where the gap came down, but now, with four races left, it's still a pretty big gap. I need to score a lot more points every single weekend, which is not that straightforward.

"If you would give me the 2023 season with how everything was, and you tell me I'm 36 points behind with four races to go, I'm like, 'Yeah, no problem, easy.' But this season, of course, has been a little bit different. So it comes down to us optimising everything, nailing the weekend.

"Besides that, probably, we need a little bit of luck in one round to create a bigger offset. But we're going to give it all, and if that's going to be enough at the end of the year... There's also not much to lose. Worst case, we have P3, and best case, you can win a championship."

Verstappen to profit off 'papaya rules'?

While Verstappen will enjoy huge amounts of focus from the majority of the Red Bull team, the same can't be said about Norris and Piastri.

With just a singular point separating the two McLaren drivers with four races remaining, no deviation from team orders and 'papaya rules' will be in the pipeline, confirmed by Piastri after their collision at the United States Grand Prix.

"Well, I think in a way, of course, it's nice. Being part of the team already for a very long time, you get to know each other really well," continued Verstappen when asked about the focus towards him at Red Bull compared to McLaren's decision-making.

"We've already had a lot of success together. There is an opportunity that we can win it, so we are going for it all in.

"For sure, the distraction may be a little bit there at McLaren between the two drivers, but at the same time, they still have a very fast car. So, if you would tell me what I would like to have? Give me the distraction, I don't care anyway. You just give me the fastest car and I'll drive it as fast as it needs to be.

"It can be nice for me, but at the same time, we just need to make sure that we have a faster car. We need to be ahead of them. It's as simple as that."

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