Charles Leclerc said Max Verstappen is “not leaving anything on the table” but admitted he would be “very surprised” if the Dutchman was able to win the title.

Back-to-back victories have brought Verstappen to within 69 points of leader Oscar Piastri following a time when he looked well out of the competition.

Charles Leclerc ‘very surprised’ if Max Verstappen wins F1 title

Verstappen’s run of consecutive championships looked certain to end at four with this year’s title going to McLaren, but two wins in a row, the second in Azerbaijan, where both McLaren drivers struggled, appears to have brought him back into contention.

Since F1 returned from the summer break, Verstappen has outscored second-placed Norris in all three races, while his points deficit to championship leader Piastri initially grew to 104 points at the Dutch Grand Prix and has since dropped to 69.

Leclerc, who can still mathematically win the title but it would take a miracle, praised Verstappen and said he was doing a “better job” than the McLaren pair.

“I think Max is not leaving anything on the table,” Leclerc said. “I think they’ve done a big step forward with the car, and they are now at a very strong level as well.

“I don’t think that it’s been a very smooth weekend for McLaren in the last two weekends. So I don’t think that Red Bull is now dominating again. I think it’s very close between McLaren and Red Bull, but Max is doing a better job at the moment and congratulations to him.”

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But asked whether Verstappen can be a title threat, Leclerc said he would be “very surprised” and expected it to go to either Piastri or Lando Norris this season.

For the Ferrari driver meanwhile, he is enduring yet another frustrating season having yet to win a race and is fifth in the standings.

The 27-year-old has come in for criticism from Jacques Villeneuve who said the Ferrari man was starting to understand that he will never be World Champion.

“Charles is frustrated because he’s probably starting to understand that he will never be World Champion,” the 1997 World Champion told Sky’s The F1 Show podcast.

“It’s gone bad, it’s gotten worse.

“Next year is a whole new set of regulations and normally that’s not when Ferrari is at its best, so it’s a difficult situation for him.

“He’s been there for a long time and his star has fallen a little bit.

“At least Lewis can rely on the fact that he’s a multiple World Champion so it doesn’t matter if the star falls a little bit. He will always be that big global star anyway, that goes beyond F1.”

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