Max Verstappen has ‘no reason to believe’ he can defend his F1 title

Verstappen has lost a lot of ground in the early part of the season

Verstappen has failed to finish two of the first three races (AFP via Getty Images)

Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen admits he has ‘no reason to believe’ he can defend his title in 2022.

The Dutchman, who dramatically pipped Lewis Hamilton to the 2021 championship in Abu Dhabi last year, has suffered reliability problems in both Bahrain and Melbourne which have seen him fail to finish.

He did clinch victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix but two DNFs have left him sixth in the drivers’ championship, a huge 46 points off runaway leader Charles Leclerc just three races into the season.

And Verstappen, who has been left extremely frustrated by his team’s inability to provide him with a car which can make it to the finish, insists the championship is not even on his mind at this moment in time.

Speaking after the disappointment in Melbourne, he said: “Being already so far down in the championship, I think it’s 46 points, from now on we need to be ahead.

“We need to quicker, which we are not at the moment. And we need to be reliable, which we are also not. So there’s a lot of things to work on.”

When asked about his potential title challenge this year, Verstappen then added: “I don’t even think about it. At the moment, there is no reason to believe in it.”

Ferrari are clearly the team to beat as they have followed up a memorable one-two in Bahrain with a second place for Leclerc in Saudi Arabia, before the Monegasque driver then picked up another victory in Melbourne.

Despite their struggles, Mercedes now occupy second spot in the drivers’ standings thanks to George Russell.

Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz is third, with Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton also ahead of reigning champion Verstappen.