Max Verstappen insists he will leave nothing on the table in Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix as he battles to keep his fading championship hopes alive.
The three-time world champion must finish ahead of title rival Lando Norris to carry the fight into the final rounds. He’ll start Sunday’s race from P3, sandwiched between Norris (P2) and Norris’s McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri on pole.
After placing fourth in Saturday’s sprint behind Norris, Verstappen remained defiant:
“I’ll try everything. As long as it’s mathematically possible, I’m not giving up.”
Max Verstappen starts third for the fourth time this season.
Verstappen vows to fight but admits McLaren looks stronger
“We’ll throw everything at it,” Max Verstappen said after Saturday’s qualifying. “From the start, Turn 1, every single lap.”
He was realistic about the challenge ahead: “It’s going to be tough. We saw it in the sprint—I pushed hard, but we quickly drop into that tire window where we just slide around and can’t keep pace.”
Verstappen pointed to Oscar Piastri’s dominant late-race pace in the sprint as evidence that McLaren currently holds the edge in race trim, leaving him doubtful he can match them over a full grand prix distance on Sunday.
Verstappen added: “To match the kind of lap times Oscar was pumping in at the end of the sprint, I’d basically have to cut corners.
“It might be slightly better tomorrow, but honestly it’ll still be really hard to run at that pace. We’ll see—it’s a long race and anything can happen.”
