‘Big task’ to beat Leclerc admits Verstappen

Max Verstappen concedes it will be a “big task” to beat Charles Leclerc to the title following a rocky start to his defence.

The Dutchman has been unable to finish two of the three races so far this season as reliability issues with the Red Bull car have seen him take just 25 points so far.

What’s worse for Verstappen is in both races that he DNFed, he was challenging Charles Leclerc for the race win and it seems at this early stage those two are the lead contenders for the title.

While there are still a possible 20 races left in the 2022 season, Verstappen is already facing a tough ask to mount a real defence of his World Championship.

Following his engine issues in Melbourne, the 24-year-old finds himself 46 points behind his title rival Leclerc and it is not only reliability issues that Red Bull seem to be struggling with, but also pace against the Ferrari.

“We are already so far down in the championship that from now onwards basically you first need to be faster than them (Ferrari), which we’re not, and zero problems with the car which we also don’t have,” Verstappen said, as reported by the Express.

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“So it’s going to be a big task. It was just a terrible race, just no pace. I