Verstappen fears winning the championship becomes a difficult story

Mercedes initially scored a one-two in the Belgian Grand Prix, with George Russell as the race winner and Lewis Hamilton right behind in second place. However, Russell lost the third win of his F1 career as he was disqualified when his car was found to be one-and-a-half kilos underweight.

Toto Wolff's team was faster than many people expected at Spa-Francorchamps, including Verstappen. "Yes, better than expected to be honest. But on the other hand it is positive that it is McLaren one time and then Mercedes the next, so they can take points off each other. That's definitely what I need until the end of the season," he said in a conversation with Viaplay.

Verstappen concerned about F1 championship

Red Bull's lead over McLaren currently stands at 42 points, and Verstappen realises that as things stand, it will be a big challenge to win the championship. "Of course we want to win the constructors', but the moment we cannot win the races ourselves, then of course it becomes a difficult story," he said. "In the drivers' championship, of course, things are looking a bit more positive. Only, of course, we have to keep doing well there too," stressed the Red Bull driver.

"It might look like a big gap, but you only have to make one mistake or have one DNF and your lead is gone," Verstappen added. "You just have to be realistic. If you win every race, you have nothing to worry about. But in every race so far it's always either a McLaren or a Mercedes going faster. And then, of course, I always have to get the maximum out of it in order to limit the damage."

This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton