Lando Norris said he was ready to defy the naysayers by taking Max Verstappen to the championship wire.
Norris will head to this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix – the final round before Formula One’s summer shutdown – 76 points behind Verstappen after he was forced by McLaren to surrender victory to Oscar Piastri in Hungary.
Pole-sitter Norris lost the lead to Piastri at the start and despite moving ahead of the Australian at the second round of pit stops, was controversially ordered to make way for his team-mate.
It marked the fifth race in a row that Norris might have won – adding to his sole career triumph in Miami back in May.
However, Red Bull’s rocky form in Hungary – which saw Verstappen launch a series of X-rated outbursts against his team – and McLaren’s impressive speed, has provided Norris with the belief that he could yet land his first title.
“You would be silly to say ‘no’,” said the 24-year-old when asked if the championship race was still alive.
“Don’t get me wrong, I know there are a lot of points to make up and a lot of people believe I have no chance, but we are going to keep fighting and I am going to give myself the best opportunity.
“When you see Max and Red Bull not performing so well and making mistakes and crashing, you want to make the most of those opportunities and plenty more can happen in the future, so it is still on.
“It is a big stretch and an optimistic one, but I’m not going to say ‘no’ to the challenge. Psychologically I am happy and I am ready to battle.”
Verstappen, 26, looked on course to waltz to his fourth-straight title after he won seven of the opening 10 rounds.
But for the first time in two-and-a-half years, Verstappen will arrive at the next round in Spa-Francorchamps winless from his last three appearances.
Red Bull’s advantage has been pulverised and Verstappen was furious throughout Sunday’s contest, taking aim at the handling of his car, while labelling his team’s strategy as “s***”.
He finished fifth following a late collision with Lewis Hamilton.
“I don’t know why people think you can’t be vocal on the radio,” said Verstappen. “This is a sport and if people don’t like that, they should stay at home.
“We should have finished third but the wrong strategy calls put me on the back foot where I constantly had to fight and overtake.
“I already said it would be as severe as it was, but maybe some people are not on the same wavelength. I knew it would be difficult to beat McLaren but we at least needed to finish third and we couldn’t even do that.”