Flying Dutchman triggers exciting late title race surge

Max Verstappen took home maximum points from Austin while leader Oscar Piastri faltered and, with five races to go, McLaren are in danger of a dire collapse, says Kieran Jackson

- Kieran Jackson

It’s tough not to overstate just how unfathomable the current positioning at the top of the F1 drivers’ championship was just two months ago. Rewind four races and Max Verstappen trailed Oscar Piastri by 104 points. For all intents and purposes, it was a McLaren intra-team title battle. A surefire thing. Whether it be Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris, the winner in Abu Dhabi on 7 December would be adorned in bright papaya.

Now, the outlook is not so black and white. Indeed, now the future looks like a blanket of orange, with dark blue and red splattered all over it. An individual title that looked genuinely unlosable for McLaren, such was their irrepressible dominance for most of this season, is now in danger of a catastrophic collapse.

For Verstappen, who had long dismissed his chances of a fifth consecutive title (a feat only matched by Michael Schumacher before him), it was the perfect sprint weekend in Austin. Two pole positions, two race wins, and a maximum 33 points to his name. Even the Dutchman, who has at times been visibly unbothered by this season's trials and tribulations at Red Bull, is now licking his lips.

“For sure, the [title] chance is there,” he told Martin Brundle below the podium, immediately after his dominant victory at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday. “We just need to try and deliver these kinds of weekends until the end. It's exciting and I'm excited until the end.”

Verstappen's gap is now 40 points to Piastri, with five races left and 141 points to play for. Norris, who at least recovered from a slow start to finish second on Sunday, is just 14 points off his teammate. Out of nothing, the tide is turning dramatically against the previously unflappable Australian.