Verstappen Admits Title Hopes Fading After Disappointing Brazil Weekend
Verstappen’s Struggles Continue in São Paulo
Max Verstappen has conceded that his bid for the Formula One world championship is effectively over after a disappointing performance at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver endured a frustrating Saturday, qualifying only 16th for Sunday’s main race. Earlier in the day, he managed fourth place in the sprint race, while McLaren’s Lando Norris took the victory.
Norris Extends Lead as Championship Gap Widens
Norris’ sprint win increased his lead over Verstappen to 39 points with just four races left in the season. Unless the McLaren driver faces setbacks in Sunday’s main event, Verstappen is expected to lose even more ground in the title chase.
When asked about his championship hopes after qualifying, Verstappen responded candidly:
“I can forget about that. Yes, for sure.”
Momentum Stalls After Impressive Comeback
The Dutch driver had reignited his championship campaign earlier in the season, cutting former leader Oscar Piastri’s advantage by 64 points through three wins and a second-place finish in Italy, Azerbaijan, Singapore, and the United States. However, Norris’ recent victory in Mexico halted Verstappen’s momentum, and the Brazil weekend has added further challenges for Red Bull.
Red Bull’s Setup Issues Deepen
Verstappen qualified sixth for the sprint and climbed two positions after overtaking Fernando Alonso and benefiting from Piastri’s crash. Despite those gains, he complained about poor grip and said the team’s setup changes made the situation worse.
He was eliminated in the first qualifying session — the first time since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, which had been due to engine issues.
Team Searching for Solutions
Verstappen admitted that Red Bull has yet to understand why the car performed so poorly.
“We need to understand what our problems are, first of all,” he said. “It’s not been good. It seems we don’t really know why it’s happening. There was just no grip. I changed the car several times, and nothing worked. That’s something we need to figure out.”
In a further attempt to fix the problem, Red Bull reverted to an older floor specification — the same design used before the upgraded version introduced at the Italian Grand Prix in September.
“It’s two different floors, so clearly, that is not it,” Verstappen added.
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