Verstappen says Ferrari not 'helping me' to world title

Max Verstappen dismissed claims that he is on the path to a second consecutive world title this year thanks to Ferrari's missteps and reliability issues.

In the early part of the season, armed with a strong F1-75 new-generation car, Charles Leclerc had built a solid lead for himself and Ferrari.

But the pair's edge soon melted away as Red Bull got its act together and eventually left its rival in its dust over the summer in the wake of the Italian outfit's errors, reliability issues and strategy blunders.

Verstappen thus headed into Formula 1's summer break with a massive 80-point advantage over Leclerc that will be near impossible for the latter to overhaul.

But the Dutchman brushed off suggestions that his run to the title has been made easier this year by Ferrari's self-inflicted wounds.

"I think everyone always tries to do their best and sometimes that’s of course a bit harder to achieve," he said, quoted by Motorsport Week.

"I find that difficult to comment [on] because nobody does things on purpose and everyone always wants of course to try and get the best result out of it.

"And from my side as well, I always try to get the best result out of it and the team as well. Sometimes you do that better than other weekends.

"And we also dropped quite a few points as well from our side by having issues but yeah, I find that difficult to say that they helped me because at the end of the day you always have to perform yourself and as a team."

• Read also: F1 world championship drought not pressuring Ferrari - Leclerc

Asked if he will opt for a more conservative approach in the second half of the season given his significant lead in the championship, Verstappen said that he and Red Bull had no plans to rein in their efforts.

"Not really," he said. "I think as a team we still want to win more races and that’s what we’ll definitely try to do after the break."

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