It was so low that the world champion couldn’t see a world in which he won another race in 2025. But rule them out at your own peril, because it’s a combination that has defined greatness before and is doing so again.
After his home race, the Dutch Grand Prix, Verstappen was 104 points off the lead for the title. In the four races since, he has reduced it to 40. At this rate, he will be the world champion, and the two McLaren drivers will struggle to build momentum together.
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The RB21 has found something he couldn’t find at the beginning of the year. The updates introduced in the wake of the summer have transformed its performance. Even if the papaya drivers have underperformed in recent races, Verstappen has been really fast and could even have taken pole and victory in Singapore if his final lap in Q3 had been smoother.
In short, there are 119 points out of the last 133 possible; Including three wins in the last four races, four out of five if you count the sprints, the comeback that is taking place is quite remarkable.
But of his dominant victory in the United States, Verstappen told skysportsf1.com: “Yes, for sure, the possibility is there (of the championship).
“We just have to try to see these weekends through to the end. We’ll try everything we can. It’s exciting and I’m very excited until the end.”
Of his victory at the United States Grand Prix, which secured him maximum points in Austin, Texas, Verstappen added: “What was key was that first stint where Charles (Leclerc) was basically holding up Lando quite a bit because that’s where I could make my way.”
“As soon as Lando was in clear air, he was very fast, either equaling or faster than us. Basically that gap stayed more or less the same until the end, where Lando again had to overtake Charles.”
Verstappen’s three wins in the last four races have come on different track layouts. Although Monza and the Baku city street circuit are dominated by low drag, the number of low-speed corners, as well as the impact of wind, suggest a more overall high performance at which the RB21 and Verstappen excelled.
And the Circuit of the Americas has a very different track layout, with a greater variety of corner types; with the high-speed snake in the first sector and the low-speed one that appears at the beginning of sector three.
Therefore, even though Norris’ career was hampered by Charles Leclerc’s brilliant defensive work, Verstappen has been a credible force on different track layouts, which was not the case earlier this campaign.