Max Verstappen admitted there is one driver he has been unable to overtake at the Brazilian Grand Prix, ahead of a crucial race weekend.
The reigning four-time world champion has closed in on the world championship lead in recent weeks.
Earlier in the season, Verstappen trailed Oscar Piastri by 104 points, with the Australian leading the standings for much of the year.
However, Piastri has faltered in recent weeks and Verstappen is now only 36 points behind the new leader, Lando Norris.
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With four weekends remaining, including two sprint races, there is still an opportunity for Verstappen to take a record-equalling fifth consecutive title.
The Dutchman will be confident coming into this weekend's race in Sao Paulo, having won at Interlagos for the previous two years.
In 2024, Verstappen was outstanding in Brazil, coming from 17th on the grid to take the victory.
He made rapid progress in the early stages of the race, moving up six places on the first lap, and by lap 12 he was in sixth.
At that stage his progress slowed in a DRS train of Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Charles Leclerc.
It was only once Ferrari pitted the Monegasque driver that Verstappen was able to continue his progress.
Reflecting on that moment after the race, Verstappen said: "Here I just got stuck cause Charles is actually quite decent."
The Dutchman later received some good fortune with the timing of a red flag which allowed him to change his tyres.
After the restart, Ocon held onto the lead for five laps, but he was ultimately unable to hold off Verstappen, who finished more than 19 seconds ahead of the Alpine.
Verstappen added: "My emotions have been a rollercoaster, with the red flag in qualifying starting P17, I knew it was going to be a really tough race.
"We stayed out of trouble, we stayed calm and we were flying. All these things made this possible."
Verstappen will need a similar result at this weekend's race if he is to continue his world title push.
Although he may take encouragement from the recent comments of McLaren boss Zak Brown, who said he would rather Verstappen win the championship than prioritise one of Norris or Piastri.
Some pundits have said McLaren should prioritise a driver to ward off the threat of Verstappen.
However, Brown's comments confirm the team have no plans to do that and the drivers will continue to operate under the 'papaya rules'.
Although those rules dictate they are free to race, so long as they avoid crashing, they have collided twice in recent weeks.
Topics: Max Verstappen, Formula 1, Lando Norris, Red Bull Racing
James Taylor