World champion Max Verstappen on Sunday was sounding downbeat about his chances of defending his title in 2022. Worse still, his car was clearly off Leclerc’s dominant Ferrari pace in Melbourne. “At the moment there is no reason to believe in the title,” Verstappen admitted. “If you want to fight for the title, you have to be ahead of Ferrari. I really don’t want to think about a championship fight at the moment. “The problems also have to do with the grip at the front. “Of course there are still 20 races to go but he has his teammate behind him, the team more or less behind him, and a gap to his main competitor Max Verstappen.

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