‘We are lacking quite a bit’ – Verstappen ‘realistic’ over title prospects as battle with Norris set to ramp up

As the 2024 season gradually begins to wrap up, Max Verstappen has outlined his laidback attitude to the escalating championship battle with McLaren’s Lando Norris.
There are just six races remaining to decide who will be this year’s champion, with the Briton 52 points adrift of Verstappen’s lead that was built up in the earlier stages of the season.
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McLaren have been on an upward trajectory since Norris’s maiden win in Miami, but Red Bull faced numerous issues with their car that they seemed to successfully tackle at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
More points are on offer in the final races thanks to three Sprints, and while the historic title battle is enthralling for many, the Dutchman was down to Earth about his chances of holding onto his advantage in the standings.
“To be honest with you, I’m not really worried about anything,” he said, when asked about the title battle, and the upgrades both Red Bull and McLaren are set to run this weekend. “I just want to have fun and try to do the best I can.
“Every race is important. Naturally this one is also very important and we want to do well. We’ll see with the upgrades we have what it does to the car, and also there’s a lot of changes to the track with the tarmac so we also need to get on top of that.
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“If we improve the car then naturally we have more speed, so then it becomes a bit more comfortable. At the moment we know we are lacking quite a bit and we have to go at it step by step. There’s not many races left but I’m still confident that we can have good races.”
Although the previous two seasons were marked by a period of dominance for the 27-year-old, he has had to divide this year’s victories with six other drivers as Red Bull have struggled with balance and development issues.
Their fluctuating performances allowed McLaren to snatch the lead of the constructors’ standings for the first time in a decade, raising the possibility that Norris could also come from behind and become a world champion.
Verstappen was undisturbed by the prospect of losing out to the Briton, however, expressing faith in his own abilities and the Milton Keynes outfit as he explained that “once I get in the car I always try to do the best I can”.
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He continued: “Of course I would like to win the championship, but it also needs to be realistic. We’ll try to do everything we can and if we are competitive enough then we can do that.
“If we are not, then we’re not. It’s as simple as that, life goes on. It’s not like if you don’t win it’s a big tragedy.”