Max Faces Vegas Without Sense of Title Secured

Max Verstappen heads to Las Vegas focused on performance, as the championship isn’t yet secured despite his dominant position

After an impressive victory in Brazil, Max Verstappen hopes this momentum will propel him to secure his fourth world title this weekend in Las Vegas.

As the paddock prepares, all eyes are on the Dutchman’s significant lead over Lando Norris in the standings. A win this weekend, regardless of the Briton’s finish, would crown Verstappen as champion.

Verstappen hasn’t managed back-to-back wins since June, when he crossed the line first in Canada and Spain. However, his remarkable charge from 17th to 1st in Brazil could give him the boost needed to replicate such a feat.

When asked if the team had planned anything special in case he clinches the championship in Las Vegas, Verstappen replied, “If they have, I don’t want to know! I just want to focus on the weekend and try to deliver a good performance. Brazil was a very welcome win for us after some time, but it’s still very different.”

“In the last few races, we definitely didn’t have the fastest car, so we’ll see what we can do here. Last year, we had a fun race here, but Ferrari was already very quick. This track seems to suit their car, but I hope we can fight this weekend and try to win again.”

During last season’s inaugural race on the Las Vegas Strip, Verstappen claimed victory ahead of Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez after recovering from a penalty in an incident-packed event.

At this time last year, Verstappen had already secured his third world title during the most dominant season of his career.

“It looks a bit better now in the championship, but we’ll see this weekend. We have good hopes of being competitive, but I’m not sure how much. I feel that even in Brazil on a dry track, we were finally quite good in race pace.”

“Of course, this is a completely different track with completely different temperatures. I just hope we can keep some momentum going. There’s still a lot to play for—even in the constructors’ standings, I think there’s a chance, so we’ll see what we can do.”

“I’m looking forward to the weekend. Three races remain, we’re nearing the end of the season, and the championship is looking good, but we still have a lot of points to score, so we’ll focus on that.”

“Once we achieve that, we’ll get closer to the final result. Of course, the goal is to win the championship.”

The Red Bull driver remains cautious.

“If Lando finishes ahead of me, it could go to Qatar. That’s far from impossible, obviously. So, for now, it’s hard to say if I can wrap up the title on Sunday because if you look at the last races, on a dry track, we clearly didn’t have the pace compared to McLaren.”

“Just because we won in the rain in Brazil doesn’t mean everything is suddenly fixed and all is well. Of course, it gave me a good position in the championship, but I have to be realistic—we’re still not the fastest.”

“I hope we can be competitive here. It’s still very uncertain with the track temperatures, of course, like last year, very cold.”

Does the seemingly inevitable title ease the pressure?

“I mean, the pressure is that I always want to perform well every weekend. It’s not necessarily about the championship. I’m just trying to enjoy the weekend too, to see how competitive we can be.”

“The championship isn’t decided yet, so there are still points to score. It depends on my speed. It’s more about the quality of the car than anything else.”