Max Verstappen has said that he believes he is still the fastest driver on the grid despite seeing his championship lead wiped out in recent weeks as Lewis Hamilton has overtaken in the standings.

The Red Bull star has had some pretty rotten luck in the last couple of races. 

His crash at Silverstone with Lewis Hamilton saw him lose 25 points to the Briton before the first lap incident at Budapest at the weekend caused by Valtteri Bottas saw him again concede a glut of points to his title rival.

Indeed, what was a 33-point gap not so long ago has become an eight-point deficit as we head into the summer break, and he'll be eager to bounce back with the Belgian Grand Prix up next at the end of August.

It sounds as though he remains fully confident in his ability to turn things around, too, with a confident interview with the Dutch press:

"I see it this way, I can still go faster than anyone in a car," Verstappen told De Telegraaf. "There's something more in that too, in terms of margin. I'm absolutely sure I'm faster than Lewis. It works very well for me to think that way. If I don't think so, it is indeed better to stay at home.

"I think the cars [Mercedes and Red Bull] were definitely equal earlier this year. Now Mercedes is a little bit ahead again and we have to make sure we equal it out again at least. Then I can make the difference."

Of course, every F1 driver worth their salt has the same mindset and, as Max says, if you don't think you can beat everyone else you might as well not turn up to the track.

He's shown this season he can take the fight to Lewis Hamilton but has also seen the sheer task in front of him of battling the seven-time champion and his Mercedes team, and it means the second half of the campaign is set-up wonderfully well.