AUSTIN, Texas -- Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko believes Max Verstappen started to lose interest in his title defence earlier this year, but said the Dutchman is now fully motivated in chasing down his fifth F1 drivers' championship.
Verstappen remains an outside contender for this year's title after closing the gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri to 55 points at Saturday's sprint race at the U.S. Grand Prix and taking pole position for Sunday's race.
The strong performance in Austin follows two victories and a second-place finish at the last three races after Red Bull unlocked more performance from its 2025 car with upgrades and setup changes.
Marko thinks Verstappen lost interest in the title fight earlier this year while struggling for performance, but says the four-time champion came back from a victory in a GT3 race at the Nurburgring in September with renewed energy to fight for the title in F1.
"Max, at one stage when we were not competitive, I would say he lost a little bit interest," Marko told Sky Sports. "He was more interested in GT racing so to keep him in a good mood I was talking about Nurburgring and things like that.
"But now that the car is working and with his success at the Nurburgring, I would say two tenths just came from him because he's really motivated, he's enjoying [F1]. You don't hear him shouting, he's smiling so that's what you need."
Asked if Verstappen is still in the title fight with six races remaining, Marko said: "It's too early to say, but this weekend looks promising."
Verstappen took eight points out of Piastri's championship lead with victory in Saturday's sprint race before taking pole position ahead of Lando Norris for Sunday's race.
Asked if he was starting to believe in his title chances, the defending champion said there was no point in getting too focused on the points gap at this stage.
"It's not about believing in it -- I just take it race by race," he said. "I just try to do the best I can.
"Today, yeah, perfect for me to get those points. It brings me a bit closer, for sure. Which I think is nice for everyone. Maybe not for them, but in general for everyone.
"But yeah, I look into different things. I was not entirely happy with the pace in the race, and I know if we want to win tomorrow, we need to be better. And that's what I'll just focus on."