Championship leader Oscar Piastri says it’s too early to discount Max Verstappen in the fight for the drivers’ title despite the widening points gap between them.
The McLaren driver scored his fifth victory of the season at the last round in Spain. He leads team mate Lando Norris by 10 points while Verstappen has fallen 49 behind.
But with 407 points available over the remaining 15 rounds, Piastri believes Verstappen can get back into contention.
“I think Lando is the main opponent, yes, but I’m not going to rule out Max,” he told the official F1 channel. “The gap is obviously a bit bigger now, but it’s not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination. So let’s see.
“We’re going to keep pushing to try and make our car even faster and make myself even faster but I think the main opponent, let’s say, is Lando.”
Verstappen faces the added complication of the threat of a race ban following his collision with George Russell at the last race. He is on 11 penalty points, one away from an automatic ban, while Piastri has four and Norris three.
Piastri’s last championship success was in Formula 2 in 2021. It was his third title win in as many seasons following his successes in Formula 3 and the Formula Renault Eurocup.
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After nine rounds, Piastri has won more races than his rivals combined. He is aiming to continue that run this weekend in Montreal, where his previous best finish is fifth place.
“I enjoy being the hunted,” he said. “I’ve said it before it means you’re normally doing something right if you’re in that spot so I’m enjoying it.
“The season’s obviously gone very well so far. I think Spain was a great example of that. So I’ll try and continue the success and the momentum from there, I guess.
“This weekend should be good for us, hopefully, but I think the competition will be tight. It’s a track that tests everything, it’s basically a street circuit, it’s very bumpy, the weather’s often at play, so there’s a lot of variables that can spice things up, so I think we’ll have some competition from a few teams around us.”
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