Max Verstappen sounded ‘clueless’ in unusual interview as title dream faded at Brazilian Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen ruled himself out of title contention at the Brazilian Grand Prix despite producing an epic fightback from the pit lane to the podium. Lando Norris’ victory puts him 49 points off the pace with three rounds to go.

For the first time in his F1 career, Verstappen was eliminated in Q1 on pure pace. Red Bull opted to take the car out of parc ferme, triggering a pit-lane start, and fitted a new engine as they revamped the set-up.

A year after winning in Sao Paulo from 17th on the grid, the Dutchman carved his way back to third. While he won the driver of the day award, Norris’ perfect weekend made the comeback a little hollow.

Verstappen told Sky Sports that Red Bull had to be ‘realistic’ about their title chances after the race, admitting he’d lost ‘way too many points’ earlier in the season to still be a genuine contender.

Max Verstappen seemed ‘lost’ after costly Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying

24 hours earlier, Verstappen was baffled by the RB21’s total loss of performance. Speaking to the same broadcaster, he said: “I don’t really understand how it can be this bad, so that’s more important for us to understand that at the moment.”

As former F1 designer Gary Anderson explained in a column for The Telegraph, Red Bull didn’t do anything ‘magic’ overnight, instead just reverting to ‘what they knew best’.

Anderson observed that ‘Verstappen sounded as lost as I have ever heard him’ after Saturday’s qualifying session. ‘He seemed clueless’ about one of the season’s biggest shocks.

Usually, Verstappen is quick to identify and ‘complain’ about any issues with the car, but here he was stumped.

While he deserves ‘great credit’ for his race performance, Anderson feels he could have challenged Norris for victory had he started inside the top five.

Jos Verstappen thinks he knows why Red Bull were so bad in qualifying

Speaking immediately after the race, Lando Norris called Verstappen’s pace ‘disappointing’ from a McLaren perspective. That suggests Red Bull had the package to win, which makes this a missed opportunity.

Verstappen and Red Bull have set the standard when it comes to execution all year, but their points losses before the summer break meant they had to be perfect to have any chance of snatching the title.

According to Ralf Schumacher, Jos Verstappen blamed Red Bull’s woes on the tyres, explaining that it’s ‘extremely difficult’ to get them into their ‘optimal operating window’. Yuki Tsunoda was three-tenths slower than his teammate in the sister car.

The Sprint weekend in Qatar means that there are still 83 points up for grabs. But if Norris averages fourth place between now and Abu Dhabi, Verstappen can’t win the title.