After Max Verstappen secured pole position in Austin and both McLaren drivers retired from the sprint race, Red Bull senses an opportunity: is the world championship title still possible?
Max Verstappen has made an impressive comeback in the world championship battle. The Red Bull driver won the Formula 1 sprint in Austin with ease, benefiting from the double retirement of the two McLaren drivers. This reduces the world champion’s deficit in the overall standings by eight points—and just hours later, he makes another statement by securing pole position for Sunday’s main race.
When asked whether this day had revived his World Championship hopes, Verstappen remained cool: “It’s not about belief,” he said after the sprint. “I take it race by race. I just try to do my best. Today was perfect for me to take the points. That brings me closer, of course, which is nice, maybe not for the others, but for everyone watching. “
However, he is not entirely satisfied with his own performance: ”I wasn’t entirely happy with the pace in the race. If we want to win tomorrow, we have to be better. I’ll focus on that.”
If you keep winning, that’s good – Verstappen remains level-headed
In an interview with Sky, the Dutchman appears calm as usual. When asked when he will start calculating, he replies dryly: “If you keep winning, that’s good, of course. But today – sure, we won the sprint – the pace wasn’t where I wanted it to be. If we want to win tomorrow, we definitely have to be stronger. We’re analyzing that now.”
Verstappen is cautious in his comments about the fact that the 55-point gap to Oscar Piastri has shrunk significantly. For him, it’s the form on the day that counts, not the points table. “We’ll see what happens,” he says. “Unfortunately, I can’t predict the future. With some things, that would be nice, but for now, we’ll see what we can do in qualifying.”
Helmut Marko warns McLaren: “We have to win”
Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko sees the situation somewhat more directly. On Sky, he calculates: “Max is now 55 points behind Oscar Piastri. We have to win – eight or three points won’t be enough. But let’s see: There are still some exciting races to come, where the first corner will be critical.“
”Max is driving relaxed. We have something to lose, but the pressure is not on our side – that’s an advantage.“ At the same time, Marko sees the first signs of nervousness in his opponent: ”You can see that Piastri is making mistakes – and that’s a good thing,” he says with a grin.
After qualifying, in which Verstappen secured pole position, Marko added: “We have gradually improved. In the end, we couldn’t do a second lap with new tires because the cars in front of us were dawdling. The FIA needs to do something about that when the session is so short. But it was enough for pole. Whatever we changed on the car, it worked. The car is now more stable than in the sprint – we are more optimistic about the race.“
McLaren under pressure: the ease is gone
Timo Glock is watching the situation at McLaren critically. ”The ease that they had for a long time is gone,” says the Sky expert. “You can see that they are no longer able to dominate as they did before. Now they have to react—and that’s difficult for them. On top of that, there’s this whole story about the so-called papaya rules, which everyone has been talking about all weekend. That creates additional pressure.”
The result: mistakes creep in, Piastri and Norris lose control of their own rhythm. “That puts them in a difficult situation,” Glock continues. “And at some point, the question will arise as to when McLaren will back one driver – namely Oscar Piastri, if he still has that lead. They have to deal with all of that now. And Max Verstappen is busy annoying them.”
Toto Wolff: McLaren will have to make a decision at some point
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff also looks at the situation between Red Bull and McLaren: “Overall, it’s going to get tricky now, of course,” believes the Austrian. “You can see Max coming in with big strides. At some point, a decision may have to be made—depending on how the next two races are scored.”
For Wolff, one thing is clear: the pressure is now entirely on McLaren. Verstappen, on the other hand, can play freely—and that’s exactly what he’s mercilessly exploiting at the moment.
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella is trying to take the tension out of the situation. When asked about the implications for the world championship, he replies soberly: ” The consequence is what the math says. We lost eight points with both drivers. But we’re focusing on ourselves. We know we have a very competitive car and two strong drivers. If we race normally, the points balance will take care of itself. We’re just looking forward to normal races.”
Ecclestone makes a prediction: Verstappen will be world champion
Formula 1 veteran Bernie Ecclestone also weighs in with a provocative assessment in Bild: “All the signs at McLaren point to Norris winning the title. That’s why he and Piastri, who is in second place and leads the championship, are taking points away from each other – and Max is doing it again.”
After Verstappen’s pole position in Austin, Helmut Marko remains combative. “We’re still around 55 points behind—that’s a lot,” he admits. “But I’ve calculated internally that we need to make up 15 points here. And it looks like we could do it.”
If Verstappen wins Sunday’s Grand Prix and McLaren finishes in the starting positions, the Dutchman would have made up another 17 points on championship leader Piastri and would be just 38 points behind the leader. The championship battle seems to be wide open again – a scenario that hardly anyone would have expected just a few weeks ago.