Verstappen thinks about world title: It will be damage limitation in Monaco

After the Grands Prix in Imola, the paddock is starting to believe in an exciting world championship. Ferrari proved they can win in Australia, McLaren did so in Miami and confirmed their status as a serious challenger to Red Bull Racing in Imola. Both teams believe they can win races if everything goes well at the weekend, but does that mean they see a chance of winning the world title?

Do Verstappen's competitors believe in the world title?

"It's a long, long way to go. So unless you're thinking of it doesn't change anything. We've not thought about it at all over the last four weeks, it's just you concentrate on getting good results. And things just play out for themselves. So we definitely put ourselves in there. I mean, we lost a lot over the first couple weekends. Just hurt us, but just the way through. So there's plenty of opportunities for us. And we know something's coming in the future," Norris revealed in Monaco.

"I don't think so this year, I think it's going to be very, very tough. I mean, especially for the Drivers Championship for me, I don't even know where I am," Oscar Piastri said somewhat with a smile. "I'm a long way behind. So I don't I'm not focusing on that at all. I think in the constructors, of course, it's possible to mount a challenge. If both of us are scoring good points week in, week out. But again, it's been two weekends that we've been able to fight for a win, we need to make sure that we can do that consistently first."

Charles Leclerc also guards against too much optimism: "I don't want to kill the excitement but I wouldn't jump to conclusions too early. I mean it's been the last race has been pretty close. the one before as well. it was two particular tracks. It is also true that the two next tracks are also quite particular, being Monaco and Canada where kerb-riding is so important. And as Max said, it might not show the strength of their car."

Verstappen already revealed in Imola that he does not care much about the competition getting closer. He will continue to do his thing to get the most out of the car. He is repeating that story in Monaco, although he is happy that the competition is getting closer, making F1 a bit more exciting at the front of the field again.

Verstappen expects difficult weekend in Monaco

"It also depends a bit on the circuit," Verstappen told Dutch media, including GPblog. "We have of course driven the last few races on circuits where there is very little tyrewear. That is definitely not to our advantage. If you go to circuits where you have to do two-stops, or at least it is very difficult to do one stop, then it is normally in our favour. This is because most teams struggle to keep mainly their rear tyres together."

According to Verstappen, however, there is no man overboard yet. After all, a few races ago he crossed the line with a huge margin. Verstappen cites the Chinese Grand Prix where, without the safety car, he might have won by 30 seconds. So once the competition returns to a similar circuit, the tide could just as easily turn again for Red Bull Racing.

Still, no one in Monaco doubts that it will be a struggle for Verstappen to start from pole position here for the eighth time in 2024. Even Verstappen himself stated that Monaco and also Canada will not be circuits where the RB20 will perform best. Ferrari and McLaren should normally perform better here. Verstappen therefore talked about getting as many points as possible. The three-time world champion now knows how he takes the title: not full risk for that one win, but maximising the result every time.