I LOVE LEW

Verstappen needs help from rival if he's to overhaul dominant McLarens

- BY DANIEL MOXON

MAX VERSTAPPEN hopes his old title rival Lewis Hamilton can help him overcome Lando Norris with a late-season title charge.

Norris leads the Formula One drivers’ standings heading into this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Briton is just one point ahead of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri but 36 clear of third-placed Verstappen.

The Red Bull racer is chasing five championships in a row but knows he now needs help from others to close the gap in the final weeks of the campaign.

Verstappen said it “would be nice” if Hamilton and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, as well as George Russell at Mercedes, could take some points off the McLaren pair. But he added: “We also need to be faster than McLaren to the end of the season to close the gap down.