Max Verstappen’s chances of winning the title have diminished after a poor performance in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix – pole position was secured by Lando Norris.
Norris won qualifying on Saturday ahead of Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. Verstappen was eliminated in the first section and only managed 16th place on the grid for the race on Sunday (6 p.m. CET, live ticker on sportschau.de).
Chances of a fifth title in a row are decreasing
The two McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri confidently qualified for the second of three stages. In the drivers’ championship, Verstappen, who has made a remarkable comeback since the summer break, is 39 points behind leader Norris from McLaren. In second place, Piastri is nine points behind his team rival.
In order to keep his sights on his fifth world title in a row, Verstappen would actually have to gain points towards the top in every single race. In Brazil the chances of this have already fallen dramatically on Saturday. After the race weekend in Sao Paulo, Formula 1 will stop off in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen: “Of course that was bad”
“We now have to understand what we are doing wrong with the car,” said Verstappen on Sky, when asked about his remaining World Cup chances. It is “difficult to say” at what point in the past few weeks Red Bull lost momentum again. “I now had no grip, no feeling for the car, I couldn’t drive at the limit at all. That was of course bad.”
The Dutchman had already had problems with his car in the sprint a few hours earlier, but still managed to finish fourth. The team changed the setup for qualifying and the race, but this apparently increased the problems.