"Can you beat me 24 races in a year? No": Max Verstappen at his confident best as he lays down the gauntlet for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Ahead of the title decider for what could be his 5th championship, Max Verstappen is back at his confident best as he states in an interview that there's no driver on the grid who could beat him over a 24-race period. The Dutch driver will be racing in Abu Dhabi this weekend as he tries to hunt down Lando Norris in the championship.

The McLaren driver currently leads the championship over Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. But the Dutch driver's form in the second half of the season has been astounding. He has not finished a race off the podium after the summer and has been the most successful driver in general. He's also cut down what was a 105-point deficit that he was facing after Zandvoort and is now looking at just a 12-point margin.

Ahead of the final race of the season, the equation for the driver is quite simple. He has to make sure that he wins the race first and then hope that Lando Norris is not on the podium. As part of the mind games, Max Verstappen was at his confident best when, in an interview with the BBC, he claimed that any driver could potentially get the better of him in a race, but over a 24-race period? It's not possible. He said,

"I know that I will never give up. I know that I always try and extract the most out of it."

He added,

"Can I be beaten on the day? For sure. I mean, everyone can be beaten on the day, but can you beat me 24 races in a year? No. That's something that if you want to fight for a championship, that is something that you have to keep up, and that's the hardest bit."

Max Verstappen not going to cry in a corner

If Max Verstappen is, however, unable to seal the title this time around, the Dutch driver would miss the opportunity to become just the second driver since Michael Schumacher to win five championships in a row. The driver is, however, not too bothered by that, as he claimed he would not be sitting and crying in a corner if he didn't win.

According to the Red Bull driver, he's had a strong season and is satisfied with how it went. He said,

"I'm not going to be crying in a corner. It doesn't matter if we finish first, second, or third. I know that I had a really good season, and that's fine."

He added,

"Already being in this fight is a bonus. Even if then we don't win it, it's not going to be stinging. Because I know where we lost it and I know that in general we have not been the quickest team."

This is the first time since 2010 that we've had three drivers in contention for the title in the last race of the season. It would be interesting to see who comes out on top as the sport could potentially have a new champion at the end of the season.