Max Verstappen has been praised by fellow F1 champion Fernando Alonso, who has backed the Dutchman to come out on top in an equal fight against the McLaren drivers.
Verstappen goes into the Mexico City Grand Prix attempting to close down a 40-point deficit to championship leader Oscar Piastri in the final five rounds of the campaign.
After entering the season on the back of four consecutive F1 titles, Verstappen found himself running behind the McLarens for much of the year.
However, with three wins in the last four races and a dip in form from McLaren, Verstappen has become an outside bet for another title success this year, drawing applause from Alonso.
“He's a four-time world champion, first of all,” Alonso told the media, including RacingNews365.
“That’s not a casual thing. He’s one of the best drivers in the history of the sport.
“I think he’s able to extract the maximum from the car. When the car is a dominant car, he can win the championship and break some records throughout the season.
“And when the car is not that good or not the fastest, he still provides the good lap in qualifying, or the good race, the good fight.”
McLaren has largely dominated the current campaign and has already sealed the constructors' championship with several rounds to spare.
However, should Verstappen continue to eke into the gap and draw himself level on points before the Abu Dhabi finale, Alonso has backed Verstappen to come out on top.
“He’s at a very good level, very high level,” Alonso added. “This year, he's obviously fighting against a superior car, which is the McLaren.
“If it comes to the last race and they are tight on points, maybe in that moment he becomes the man to follow.
“As I said before, I think the two McLarens have enough advantage in the car to fight between them.
“With Max, that can happen, as we saw in 2021 when the car was a little bit less performing than the Mercedes. He still won the championship in Abu Dhabi.”
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