Max Verstappen dream shut down by Martin Brundle with brutal Belgian GP comments

Max Verstappen's dreams of winning a record-equalling fifth successive Drivers' Championship crown were shattered at the Belgian Grand Prix. Sky Sports F1 pundit and co-commentator Martin Brundle declared the title fight dead in the water after Oscar Piastri's tyre management masterclass.

Piastri raced over 30 laps of F1's longest circuit on medium compound tyres, fending off a late charge from team-mate Lando Norris to notch his sixth win of the campaign. This stretched his title lead to 16 points, and pushed Verstappen 81 points back from P1 in the standings. According to Brundle, that result means that Verstappen's championship charge is dead and buried. "Without that penalty in Silverstone, he (Piastri) had a great job of winning the British Grand Prix," the Brit said.

"Also, importantly, he's 81 points ahead of Max Verstappen. That's over three race wins ahead with 11 rounds to go. Even if there's a bit of a scrap or they end up running into each other, this race confirms it's Piastri vs Norris for the World Championship."

This assessment mirrored the sentiment of the reigning world champion himself, who, ahead of the Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, batted off comments from Helmut Marko suggesting that he was still in play for the crown.

"There are still 12 races to go, and we will continue to fight for the Drivers' championship as long as it's mathematically possible," Marko told ORF on Thursday. After the sprint race, he added: "Our goal remains the same: we want to win the world championship. We've already gained one point."

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Responding to his Red Bull ally's comments, Verstappen said: "But Helmut isn't in the car! I understand that you have to be positive, but I'm always very realistic about how I feel in the car. When I watch certain onboards from other cars, I know enough..."

While Verstappen believes that his battle has run its course, the intra-team title fight at McLaren is heating up. Piastri extended his advantage at his colleague's secondary home race, getting the better of Norris in both the sprint and Grand Prix.

Assessing the damages, Norris said: "Oscar just did a good job. Nothing more to say. [He] committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run. So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today."