Verstappen eyes greatest triumph in three-way title fight with echoes of 2007

A few months ago Max Verstappen's world championship defence appeared to be over. But when he took the flag in the US Grand Prix on Sunday it heralded the most remarkable resurgence as he waded with a gleeful swagger back into the title fight. Verstappen was down but he is far from out and could yet still pull off what would count as his greatest triumph.

- Giles Richards

Going into the weekend in Austin, Verstappen was still treating the idea of him being a contender against the two lead protagonists, McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with a certain indifferent levity.

“It’s 50-50. You either win it, or you don’t. I don’t really think about it,” he said. He was then still 55 points behind Piastri. After his dominant win at the Circuit of the Americas the gap was down to 40 and Verstappen acknowledged he was definitely in the game.

From 104 points down after the Dutch Grand Prix, in four meetings, three of which he has won, Verstappen has taken 64 points out of Piastri's lead. On the evidence of those four races - Monza, Baku, Singapore and Austin - his Red Bull car is now the quickest in the field or at least on a par with the McLaren.

He has won on every type of track, including crucially in Austin on a traditional circuit, indeed one with high tyre wear, of the type where McLaren has held the whip hand all season. On this showing the final five races, Mexico, Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, will hold no fear for Verstappen.