By Alan Baldwin
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) -Max Verstappen is making history with every race and could stage one of the most remarkable fightbacks Formula One has ever seen, according to two team bosses who have worked closely with the four-times world champion.
The Dutch driver was 104 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri at the end of August and would have ridiculed anyone who seriously suggested he still had a chance of a fifth successive title.
"I would have told him he was an idiot," the driver told reporters
on Sunday.
After three wins in the last four races, he is now 40 points behind the Australian -- still a hefty amount -- and very much a threat.
In Austin alone he clawed back 23 points.
WATCHING HISTORY IN THE MAKING
If Verstappen were to come out on top it would be an unprecedented turnaround even taking into account changed scoring systems.
"I think watching Max driving is watching history in the making," Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies told reporters after Verstappen completed a perfect weekend with a U.S. sprint and Grand Prix double from pole position.
"He surprises us every time he goes out on track. He surprises us on how much he's pushing us between a session and another, how much sensitivity he has in stuff that sometimes we can see and stuff that sometimes we cannot see."
Sauber principal Jonathan Wheatley, who was previously Red Bull's team manager and sporting director, agreed that Verstappen could make the impossible possible.
"You can never write Max Verstappen off. What an unbelievable, dominant weekend from Max," the Briton told reporters. "It's a pleasure to watch.
"Max Verstappen is perhaps the best driver in the world ... if I was McLaren I'd be looking in my rear view mirrors."
Asked whether he thought Verstappen could make up the remaining ground, Wheatley said it was possible as long as the points were there.
"Is it probable? Not normally. But Max tends to rewrite the rules to suit himself and has done his whole career," he added.
Verstappen told reporters the chance was definitely there.
"I know that we need to be perfect until the end to have a chance, so that’s what we just need to focus on," he said.
"It's super close, and just attention to detail will make the difference. Trying to get the best set-up on the car every weekend and then try not to make mistakes. So that's what we'll try to do."
Starting from Mexico next weekend.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Peter Rutherford)
