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Max Verstappen will be heading to Saudi Arabia with an eight-point championship lead. With just two races left, this is the first time in his career that Max Verstappen has found himself in a position to challenge for the title.
However, with Lewis Hamilton hot on his heels and looking to take full advantage with a car that looks significantly quicker than the Red Bull F1 car, the title does seem destined to go down to the wire.
Despite mounting odds, Max Verstappen is the title favorite
In this article, we look at three reasons why Max Verstappen can be considered the favorite to win the 2021 championship.
#1 Max Verstappen has been the better driver this season
Despite Lewis Hamilton being a seven-time world champion, it's hard to argue against Max Verstappen being the best driver on the grid at the moment. If we compare the two, both drivers have put together some great performances and operated at a very high level.
But while Lewis Hamilton has been comparatively error-prone, Max Verstappen has stayed the course. The Brit has had his share of average weekends, such as at Imola or Monaco, whereas Max Verstappen is yet to have a weekend like that.
Amidst all the buzz, we also tend to forget that Max Verstappen lost massive amounts of points at Baku and Hungary. If it weren't for those shortfalls of luck, he might have wrapped up the championship by now. The Dutchman has kept himself afloat by extracting the most from his car and not making any mistakes. Beyond that, there's nothing more a driver can be asked to do.
#2 He still holds an eight-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton
The key factor going into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the eight-point advantage that Max Verstappen has at the moment. Mercedes, in all likelihood, will be hard to beat in Saudi Arabia because of the high-speed track layout. Even if Hamilton wins and sets the fastest lap to draw equal on points, he would still Verstappen in the championship as the latter has more wins this season.
And although Lewis Hamilton has been performing at a ridiculously high level over the last couple of races, as we've discussed, he's shown a propensity for making mistakes or having an off weekend. Should he somehow slip up again in the next two races, the title could play into the hands of Max Verstappen.
#3 Red Bull has been the better team operationally
Mercedes have so far been undefeated in the turbo era. They haven't even had a worthy challenge thrown at them which managed to survive till season's end. This year, however, the tides have turned and the Silver Arrows have been given a wake-up call by Red Bull.
When it comes to strategic brilliance and operational excellence, Red Bull are a step ahead while Mercedes have made a few blunders along the way when put under pressure.
Although Mercedes is expected to have the fastest car at its disposal in the next two races, the pressure is going to skyrocket at some point. When that happens, Mercedes have shown a tendency to panic and suffer from indecision. If they slip up under pressure yet again, it could give Max the advantage he needs to finally put one over Hamilton.
