McLaren shock stirs 'next level' Max Verstappen: 'One of his strongest ever'

Max Verstappen's performance in the Qatar Grand Prix has been hailed as "next level" and "one of his strongest ever", which has now teed up a shock shot at a fifth consecutive F1 drivers' title.

From 104 points behind the then-championship leader, Oscar Piastri, after the Dutch Grand Prix, and with all hope of defending his crown seemingly gone, Verstappen has delivered a stunning run of performances and results to haul himself within 12 points of new leader, Lando Norris, going into the final race in Abu Dhabi this weekend.

Over a weekend in which he consistently complained that his RB21 was "jumping" and was suffering from a lack of balance, the 27-year-old delivered a superb third on the grid behind an all-McLaren front row to keep himself within touching distance of his two main rivals.

When McLaren stunned all in F1 by failing to pit either of its drivers at the end of lap seven when a safety car was summoned after Nico Hulkenberg clashed with Alpine's Pierre Gasly, and Verstappen led the rest of the field's charge for a change of tyres, it was a race-changer.

Verstappen, however, still delivered superb stints to take the chequered flag and maintain his championship charge.

Raymond Vermeulen, Verstappen's manager, has conceded to surprise at the strategy card McLaren opted to play.

Speaking to RacingNews365, he said: "Yeah, I was thinking that they would end up behind [Fernando] Alonso or [Isack] Hadjar [when they did eventually pit], but in the end, they emerged in front.

"But overtaking here is very difficult. It's a track with a strategy background, so we knew that when they were not pitting, and there was no safety car coming, that this would be our race."

So it proved, with Verstappen needing to win in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, whilst hoping Norris is again off the podium after finishing fourth in Qatar, to clinch another championship.

Regardless, it is an astonishing turnaround from where the Dutchman was going into the summer break.

"The world has changed a bit," said Vermeulen, with a smile. 

"Of course, there was a fantastic strategy. The call from the team was spot on, and that is where McLaren missed out in the end. Max's pace was also impressive.

"This race, it was one of his strongest ever, and we know if someone can do it, it's Max who can pull it together.

"It was a well-executed pit stop, the strategy was good, and Max was next level.

"I said after the summer break, we thought it was done and dusted. We have lived a little longer than that."