Max Verstappen raises doubt over historic Brazil F1 win repeat

Max Verstappen has played down his chances of producing another comeback drive from the back of the grid to win in Brazil on Sunday.

Two years ago, the Dutchman took the start from 17th on the grid but climbed through the field to take a sensational win.

At the 2026 event, Verstappen finds himself at the rear of the field once again due to a power unit-related penalty, lining up alongside Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who has a similar infringement.

But Verstappen sees little opportunity in play to surge back to the top spot from such a low position, pointing to the racing limitations of the new-for-2026 power units.

"The problem is that you drain your entire battery on the straight here," Verstappen told select media including RacingNews365.

"We used to have DRS, which made a difference of five-tenths of a second.

"But now everyone always has their wings open on the straight. And everyone is doing the same thing with the battery.

"So you don't have a lot of overspeed. It's a bit like in Mexico. Makes it very difficult to generate much more top speed.

"So it won't be as easy as it was in 2024."

Verstappen plays down impact of rain

Saturday's qualifying session at Interlagos was a washout, with torrential rain causing a significant delay.

While there is some wet weather predicted for Sunday, it is not believed to be at the same scale as what was seen during the grid-setting outing.

But should the rain arrive, Verstappen is not anticipating it will assist him to move forward.

"It wouldn't be easy in dry conditions anyway, and in the rain it'll be even tougher.

"You can't see a thing, that might be the hardest part of all."