Max Verstappen has ‘psychological advantage’ over McLaren in title fight says Toto Wolff
Toto Wolff believes Max Verstappen being the hunter gives him an edge.
As the F1 title hunter, Max Verstappen has a ‘psychological advantage’ over the McLaren duo according to Toto Wolff.
A once seemingly impossible title race has been brought into reality with Verstappen now 40 points off the leader Oscar Piastri and Wolff believes it is the Dutchman who has the mental advantage.
Toto Wolff gives Max Verstappen verdict in F1 title battle
Not since the early stages of 2022 has Verstappen acted as the hunter for a potential title but Red Bull’s sudden resurgence has made him a genuine contender.
Wolff said he knows all about a third player in a two-horse race and believed that Verstappen had an edge over the McLarens even if he did say it was still very unlikely.
“I’ve been in a similar situation with two drivers fighting for a championship, and the threat of another one catching back in the day was Max, I believe, and then it was Sebastian [Vettel] in that hunt,” he said to media including PlanetF1.com in Austin.
“So the underdog has always a little bit of an easier psychological advantage because of the probability.
“The odds are definitely against Max. If you look at the probability that’s very low, one DNS can change everything, and I think that affects the driving also.
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“How aggressive can you actually go for an overtake? You can see with Lando today, he’s done it at the end but it was tricky at times to decide whether you keep your nose, put your nose in, or not.”
Asked whether any other driver would be able to put such a fight in Verstappen’s shoes, Wolff said he is as “good as it gets as a driver.”
“I think Max is great but I wouldn’t be able to say whether any other driver [could],” he said. “They’ve just turned the car out, and that guy is the most competitive at the moment, and he’s scoring the big points.
“He’s as good as he gets as a driver.”
Austin was also the first race since Mercedes confirmed their driver lineup for next year and Wolff said it was “positive” to not have question marks surrounding the team anymore.
“Having confirmed them, having made it official, it is always [positive],” he said. “At least these questions are out of the way, that the theories that are made in public are gone, so the drivers are not being asked anymore.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock
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