Max Verstappen has ruled himself out of the Formula 1 title race, insisting he “must be realistic” despite a thrilling comeback to finish third at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Verstappen recovered from a pit lane start to extend his streak of podium finishes to seven races.
But championship leader Lando Norris’ victory increased Verstappen’s deficit to 49 points with just three rounds of the season remaining, after the McLaren driver also won the Sprint at Interlagos on Saturday.
Verstappen has already said he “can forget” winning a fifth successive drivers’ title after being eliminated in Q1 on Saturday, and repeated that sentiment after Sunday’s race.
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Watch Max Verstappen’s dazzling performance at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, capturing the ultimate overtake from the pit lane to the podium.
he said Sky Sports F1: “We have already lost too many points from the beginning to the middle of the season.
“It’s pretty amazing that we’ve been in that situation so far, but we have to be realistic – we haven’t been good enough all season.
“But we’ll do our best to have highlights and win races until the end of the season. That’s why we’re here.”
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Sao Paulo Grand Prix Highlights
‘I like the fact that the team never gives up’
Verstappen’s worst qualifying result since 2021 came after Red Bull attempted to drastically change the car’s setup after it was off the pace in the sprint event.
The Dutchman qualified sixth in the sprint and finished fourth, but felt changes were needed to give him a chance to compete with the McLarens in the overall race.
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Max Verstappen was eliminated in Q1 from the Sao Paulo GP when Jos crashed out of the Red Bull garage.
The attempt backfired badly as Verstappen struggled to handle his car in qualifying and was eliminated in Q1 for the first time since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix.
Despite this, he insisted the team was happy to have gone broke rather than being satisfied with being off McLaren’s pace.
“What I like is that even though things were very difficult for us this weekend, the team never gave up,” he said.
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Last lap drama as Lando Norris takes victory in Sao Paulo, Kimi Antonelli holds off Max Verstappen for second place
“We always want to be better and never settle for second place, otherwise it would be easy to say after a sprint, ‘Let’s not touch the car, we’re not bad, let’s not take risks.’ I don’t think that’s the mentality of the team.
“We always want to find more performance. Of course, that didn’t work out well in qualifying, but it allowed us to change the car again and make it much more competitive today.”
Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from 21-23 November. Stream Sky Sports NOW – No Commitment, Cancel Anytime
