Max Verstappen makes shock F1 title statement amid Red Bull run of form

The Dutch driver has a 62-point lead to Lando Norris in the world championship with eight races left

Max Verstappen believes the destination of this year’s F1 world title is “not in his hands” after six races without a victory.

Red Bull driver Verstappen has not won since Barcelona in June and was out of contention for the win last time out in Monza, where Charles Leclerc was victorious at Ferrari’s home grand prix.

McLaren now looks to have the quickest car and Lando Norris is just 62 points behind Verstappen with eight races remaining, as the Dutchman looks to seal a fourth-straight world championship.

Upgrades brought to the RB20 in the last few months have not resulted in an upturn in performance and Verstappen insisted, after finishing sixth in Monza, that the title is no longer probable despite his healthy points advantage.

“I just do the best I can, if I win [the title] it or not, it’s not going to change my life,” Verstappen said.

“Would I like to win it? Yes, of course. But it’s not in my hands with the performance of the car because I just try to do the best I can, try to give feedback, try to make it faster.

“If that’s going to be enough to the end of the year, I don’t know, but I do know that we’re going to give it everything we have as a team to try and be more competitive than what we’ve shown and just go from there.

“Would I like to win more? Yes of course. But I also knew that a season like last year is very unrealistic, but did I expect it to be like this? Not really with how we ended and how we started.

Max Verstappen says the 2024 F1 title is ‘not in his hands’ anymore (Getty Images)

“So now it’s up to us to just try and make it better. But I know that everyone is working flat out to make it better.

“I mean, we know the balance problems but now it’s up to us to try and make the car better to drive and more competitive.

“I think we are understanding where we need to find stuff. What we see in the wind tunnel, what we see from CFD, that is not the problem.”

Verstappen will be hoping for a strong showing as F1 returns this weekend in Baku with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.