Formula 1: Max Verstappen not ruling out 2018 championship run
By Asher Fair
After winning the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen is not ruling out a run at winning the 2018 Formula 1 championship.
Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen earned his first victory of the 2018 Formula 1 season in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. The win was the fourth of his Formula 1 career, and it was Red Bull Racing’s third win through nine races so far this year, as Daniel Ricciardo won the Chinese Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix.
After winning the race at the 10-turn, 2.683-mile (4.318-kilometer) Red Bull Ring road course in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, Verstappen stated that he believes he still has a chance to win the 2018 Formula 1 championship.
Here is what Verstappen had to say about the matter, according to ESPN.
"“Well we never give up like I said. It’s a good run we are having now but we still a bit more engine power and then we can definitely be in the mix.“Normally Silverstone is a bit tricky for us now because a few corners, they’re flat out and it’s basically a straight but here we won. I think after Silverstone then we can start to go to a few tracks, I think especially Hungary, that’s a track where we should aim for."
Verstappen currently sits in fifth place in the driver standings. He trails points leader Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari by 53 points (146 to 93). Prior to the Austrian Grand Prix, Verstappen was in sixth in the standings. He trailed then points leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport by 77 points (145 to 68).
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Verstappen has now finished on the podium in each of the last three races, and he is the only driver who can say that. He finished in third place in the Canadian Grand Prix and second in the French Grand Prix before winning the Austrian Grand Prix. He has one additional podium finish this season, and that was a third place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix.
Following a disastrous slew of blown opportunities that plagued both Verstappen and Red Bull Racing as a whole earlier this season, the 20-year-old Dutchman seems to have what it takes to finish on the podium if not win at the majority of the race tracks that Formula 1 visits.
After closing the gap to the top of the driver standings by nearly one-third of the previous gap in the Austrian Grand Prix alone as a result of the fact that he won and Hamilton was forced to retire with a fuel pressure issue, Verstappen is now well within striking distance for the 2018 championship, and he certainly cannot be ruled out of the hunt, especially if he can continue to stay out of trouble, which is what he was unable to do earlier this season.
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Will Max Verstappen make a run at winning the 2018 Formula 1 championship, or will the title end up being a bit out of reach for him in just his second full season driving for Red Bull Racing? The next race is the British Grand Prix, which is scheduled to be broadcast live from Silverstone Circuit on ESPN starting at 9:10 a.m. ET on Sunday, July 8.