Verstappen reacts to McLaren F1 title threat

Max Verstappen has asserted he sees McLaren as a real threat in the fight for the F1 title this season.

Verstappen currently holds a 78-point lead over Lando Norris in the drivers' championship, while McLaren's deficit to Red Bull in the constructors' standings reads just 42 points.

McLaren has posed a consistent obstacle for much of the current season as it targets its first F1 title since 2008.

The Woking-based squad has won two races this year, with Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri capturing their maiden grand prix victories.

When asked by media including RacingNews365 if he sees McLaren as a title threat, Verstappen replied: “Naturally, if they are the dominant force and they keep winning, then yeah, for sure.”

Red Bull has been forced into a development race with McLaren, as well as Mercedes, catching it in the pecking order.

Verstappen highlighted the reigning world champions' best course of action is to focus on its own performance rather than its rivals.

“But at the end of the day, we just need to focus on ourselves,” Verstappen added.

“I think we can do things better, maybe as well in terms of optimising the performance. So that's where my attention goes.

“Naturally you have the championship in the back of your mind but I think we first need to focus on just trying to find a bit more performance in the car.”