Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is looking to win the Formula One championship at this week’s Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka (Japan) (AFP) – Max Verstappen said Thursday he needs a “perfect weekend” to win his second consecutive Formula One championship at this week’s Japanese Grand Prix. The unruly Red Bull Championship captain can secure the title at Suzuka if he scores eight points over nearest challenger Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and six points over teammate Sergio Perez. That will happen if Verstappen wins the race and gets the fastest lap, or if he finishes first and Leclerc finishes lower than second. The Flying Dutchman is trying not to think twice about concluding the title, despite the coronation of 12 former Formula 1 world champions at the Japanese Grand Prix. The 25-year-old, who missed a chance to win the championship last week, said the Singapore Grand Prix after finishing seventh. “It doesn’t really change anything, you just want to have a good weekend and make the most of everything possible. “I need the perfect weekend to be able to win the title here but to be honest I don’t really think about it much.” Verstappen will become only the third driver after Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel to take the title with four races to spare if he gets the job done at Suzuka. The Japanese Grand Prix returns after a three-year absence due to Covid, and Verstappen is happy to compete in front of “crazy” Japanese fans once again. “They’re very excited – crazy but in a good way, and they’re really dressed,” said Verstappen, who has won 11 of 17 races so far this season. “You can see quite a few people walking around with the DRS rear spoiler on their heads. It shows you how popular motorsport is in Japan.” – special relationship – Verstappen’s Red Bull car will wear the Honda badge at this weekend’s race as part of a “strong relationship” with the Japanese company. Honda officially left Formula 1 at the end of last season but signed an agreement to continue providing technical assistance in engine development for Red Bull and brother Alpha Toure until the end of the 2025 season. Verstappen said winning the title in Japan would be “very special” because of his team’s relationship with Honda. “It’s great to see the full name back on the car,” he said. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen speaks to the media at Suzuka ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix where he could win his second consecutive title “What makes it so special is that they are back in the car before the home grand prix. We worked really well together and it was fun.” Verstappen will be looking to improve on last weekend’s performance, after a fatal error in qualifying for him caused plenty of work to be done on the tight Marina Bay street circuit. Verstappen described the race as “a prime example of why you don’t want to spend the weekend” but insisted there was “not much to change” in Japan. “They all know it’s been a bad weekend, but we’ve also shown this year that we’ve had a lot of good weekends so we know how to do it,” he said.
