Max Verstappen earns major support in five-time F1 champion bid

Max Verstappen has been given fervent backing in his bid to become a five-time F1 champion this year.

Back-to-back grand prix victories for the first time in 15 months have propelled the Red Bull driver back into a title fight with McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris that he appeared to have no hope of just over three weeks ago.

After finishing second behind Piastri in his home race in the Netherlands, Verstappen trailed the Australian by 104 points.

But wins in the last two races in Italy and Azerbaijan, coupled, in particular, with Piastri crashing out at the Baku City Circuit, have seen the Dutch driver slash 35 points out of his rival's advantage to cut the gap to 69 points.

Norris, meanwhile, is only 44 points ahead of Verstappen after failing to take advantage of Piastri's travails in Baku, whilst he is 25 behind his McLaren team-mate.

Whilst history would suggest that Verstappen's task of overhauling both drivers seems improbable, with 199 points still on the table from the remaining seven grands prix and three sprints, it means anything is possible.

It led to us here at RacingNews365 to ask you, our loyal readers, whether you now felt the battle for this season's F1 title was a three-way scrap, or whether that was fanciful, and it was still a fight between the McLaren boys.

You voted in your thousands, and the majority verdict, with 53.3% of the vote, agreed that Verstappen was now firmly in the hunt, as opposed to 43% who said it was strictly between Piastri and Norris. The remaining 4.7% were unsure. Come on guys, get off the fence.

Anyway, thank you for voting as always. It is very much appreciated.