Formula 1 season seemed like a duel between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, the two McLaren drivers, separated only by 25 points (Piastri leads with 324 points and 7 wins, Norris is second with 299 points and five wins). It seemed like Red Bull's problems had finally slowed Max Verstappen down, but the Dutch driver has won the last two races in Monza and Baku and now seems a genuine contender to the title, with 255 points and 4 wins.
That's 69 points behind the leader, and there are seven races to be held, with a much improved Red Bull car that was introduced at the Italian GP. So, many drivers were asked in the media interviews before the Singapore GP what chances do they give to the Dutchman. Responses ranged between 10% and 20%, but Verstappen laughed "50%, because I do or I don't" (via Motorsport).
"We try to do the best we can, try to be more competitive, try to hopefully confirm that the direction we took with the car is more competitive. Also on a track like this, and that's what we hope will happen, and then we'll see what happens from here on", said Verstappen before a Grand Prix he has never won (was second last year behind Norris). "As a team, we approach it as we have nothing to lose".
However, he knows that 69 points is a lot and "McLaren has been incredibly dominant and that doesn't suddenly change, so I'm not too stressed about anything. We are just very happy that we found the last two races much more positive for how the behaviour of the car was".
What it's almost 100% sure is that McLaren will claim their second constructors' championship in a row this weekend...