Max Verstappen 'can't be ruled out' from 'remarkable' F1 achievement

Johnny Herbert is refusing to rule out Max Verstappen from clinching a fifth-consecutive F1 drivers' championship, having muscled his way back into the fight in recent weeks.

The Dutchman is on a four-round run of two second places and two victories, results that have vaulted him back into contention against Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the dominant McLaren MCL39.

Now 63 points adrift of the Australian, the Red Bull driver still has an uphill battle on his hands over the final six grands prix of the campaign, but given the "harmony" he appears to have established with the RB21, he cannot be discounted, according to Herbert.

The former F1 driver recently said to bettinglounge.co.uk: "Can you rule him out? Realistically, he's probably not really got the chance if the other two just keep on racing as they have been. 

"It will be probably having a little bit of luck. And that luck is if the other two take the points away from each other and then give them to Max. That’s his biggest chance of doing it. 

"But you can’t rule him out. He seems to be very comfortable with the car once again. The balance of the car definitely is shifting in a positive way for him.

"The harmony that he seems to have with the car at the moment is just what he's needed it to be."

'It was all done and dusted...'

Verstappen's rejuvenation is in large part due to the renewed competitiveness of Red Bull under the leadership of Laurent Mekies and the floor upgrade that was ported to the RB21 at the Italian Grand Prix, where the 28-year-old returned to winning ways.

Herbert, who raced in F1 between 1989 and 2000, believes that if Verstappen can find a way to match Michael Schumacher's record of five titles in succession, it will be one of the most impressive comebacks in F1 history.

"It would be remarkable given where they [Red Bull] were," said the three-time grand prix winner.

"I think it would be one of the greatest Formula 1 comebacks because it was something that was not even really being thought of. It was all done and dusted, apparently. A Papaya 1-2, full stop. 

"If anybody on that grid at the moment, anybody was able to do it, it would be Max."