Charles Leclerc says if he were to bet on the outcome of the 2025 drivers' championship, it would be for a McLaren driver, as Max Verstappen still faces a "significant" deficit.
With five rounds remaining, Verstappen trails leader Oscar Piastri by 40 points in the drivers' championship, having taken 64 points out of the Australian in the last five races, with Lando Norris 12 points behind Piastri.
There are 141 points remaining in the season, with Piastri and Norris both going for a maiden F1 title, whilst Verstappen is gunning to become just the second driver to win five straight titles, after Michael Schumacher between 2000-2004.
When asked for his thoughts on the title race, Leclerc explained that if he were a betting person, one of the McLarens would get his money, but wouldn't name a title favourite.
"I'm never surprised, Max is always driving at a very high level, and Red Bull is probably the one team that has pushed developments more than other teams," Leclerc told media, including RacingNews365.
"I think McLaren stopped quite a while ago, we also stopped quite a while ago, and Mercedes and Red Bull are the two teams that pushed for a bit longer, so it is not a complete surprise.
"I would be very surprised if he manages to win the championship from where he is. He is always on top of things and always performing extremely well, but he is still 40 points behind, and that is significant.
"So if I had to be $1, I probably would on the McLaren drivers at this stage, but you can never rule out Max, but which one, that's difficult.
"Oscar has been very, very strong this season, and been very solid and in the last two or three races, it seems that Lando is coming back to strong form, so it is going to be close."
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