Max Verstappen marks his return to the F1 title after an outright victory over McLaren at the Austin weekend in the US GP. F1 News

Max Verstappen admits he “has a chance” to win this year’s Formula 1 World Championship after staging a once-unexpected return to the title with a perfect weekend at the United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen won Sunday for the third time in the last four races with a comfortable win over Lando Norris in the full-length grand prix, following Saturday’s victory in the Austin Sprint, a mini-race in which his McLaren rival crashed at the first corner.

While championship leader Oscar Piastri struggled to finish fifth, Verstappen scored top points at Circuit of The Americas to take 23 points off the overall Australian title lead and move to within 40 points of the summit.

Verstappen was 104 points behind Piastri, just five races later, after winning the Dutch Grand Prix on August 31 and appeared to be completely out of contention. There are 141 points left to earn this season over the remaining five race weekends, with next week’s Mexico City Grand Prix streaming live. Sky Sports F1.

“Yes, of course. There is a chance.” Verstappen has announced his late-season chase for a record fifth consecutive world title.

“We just have to try to deliver this weekend.

“We’re going to try everything we can. It’s exciting and I’m very excited until the end.”

Verstappen credits Leclerc with helping him defeat Norris.

Converting his impressive pole into the race lead at Turn 1, Verstappen’s chances of a fifth win of the season were immediately boosted when Norris fell behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as the leader exited turn one.

Norris ultimately had to overtake Ferrari twice during the race to regain second place, as Leclerc implemented an alternate tire strategy against the other frontrunners, starting on the faster softs rather than the more durable mediums.

Verstappen eventually finished eight seconds ahead of his British rival.

And the Dutchman admitted: “The big thing today was the first time Charles was basically holding on to Lando quite a bit, because that was where I was able to open up the gap.

“As soon as Lando was in clean air he was very fast, faster than us.

“Basically the gap stayed pretty much the same until the end, with Lando having to pass Charles of course.

“We won today and of course we had a very good weekend. I think we need to improve the race pace a little bit more, but we accept it.”

“Weekends like this where you’re not completely dominating the race, but you’re still winning and I think that’s very important.”

Mekies welcomes ‘special’ Verstappen as Max aims for a ‘perfect’ 2025 finish.

Any doubts before the weekend that Verstappen was truly back in the fight with the McLaren drivers for the championship were certainly put to rest by his two Austin victories, as he claimed two pole positions and led every lap of both races.

He has now surpassed Piastri and Norris in each of the last four race weekends.

“Max has been driving at an incredible level,” said Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies.

“We probably have to admit that we are witnessing something quite remarkable, and we (along with the team) have all worked together to create that turning point.”

Now 40 points behind – one win and third place – Verstappen remains an outsider in the title hunt and insists there is no room for error.

When asked if he thought McLaren should prioritize one driver over another to deny him the crown, Verstappen responded: “Honestly, it doesn’t matter what they do, it’s up to us to be perfect by the end of the season.

“This is what we need to focus on.”

Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend for the Mexico City Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports NOW – No Commitment, Cancel Anytime