Johnny Herbert believes Max Verstappen is the only driver on the Formula 1 grid capable of pulling off what would be a stunning comeback to challenge for the drivers’ title this year. The Dutchman is an outsider at best, 63 points behind leader Oscar Piastri with six rounds remaining, but has given himself a chance with a run of four consecutive top-two finishes, including two wins.
That revival came after his Red Bull team seemed to lose their way and suffered a drop in competitiveness. However, they figured out a way to make their car more compliant and that has given their star driver a slim chance of completing what would be an extraordinarily unlikely comeback at this stage.
But former F1 racer Herbert is not ready to write off Verstappen just yet. “It would be remarkable given where they were,” he told BettingLounge. “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 one-two, full stop. If anybody on that grid at the moment, anybody was able to do it, it would be Max.”
While Verstappen is no stranger to championship glory, having won the drivers’ title in the four most recent seasons before the current campaign, the two ahead of him in the standings are each bidding for what would be their first F1 crown. And Herbert thinks the Dutchman also has another advantage over Piastri and Lando Norris which means that, despite the odds being stacked against him, he cannot be ruled out of an unlikely comeback.
The Brit added: “Everybody knows that whenever you’re in a battle with Max on the racetrack, you know probably you’re going to lose. He’s got this aura that he’s created and the aura that he has created is not going to shy away from it in any way. He’s just going to use that to the maximum, but he’s not even thinking about that – it’s all the other drivers that are thinking about that, it’s all the other teams.
“All he can do now, and I think with the positivity of Singapore, he’ll be thinking outside the box. How do I get how some of that Mercedes from Singapore in my car? And that is going to be the strength of Max within Red Bull to put themselves in the position they’re in, but to better that at the same time. He will push and push and push.
“He’s very calm in life generally now. He’s in very comfortable place. He just seems to be able to brush any negativity away. When he has to step it up, he’s able to step it up. He expects the lead to step it up at the same time.
“You can’t rule Max 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.”