Max Verstappen has said that 'nothing is lost' ahead of the Russian Grand Prix this weekend despite the looming grid penalty he is going to have to serve.

The current Formula 1 world championship leader heads to Sochi on the backfoot slightly, with him given a three-place grid penalty for this weekend's race after the Stewards deemed him to be more at fault than Lewis Hamilton in their crash at the Italian Grand Prix last time out.

Indeed, it's going to be interesting to see just where the Dutchman lines up on Sunday afternoon with that in mind, but he remains in an upbeat enough mood over his prospects and says that nothing is lost right now.

Speaking ahead of the Russian Grand Prix, he explained:

"The penalty is, of course, not ideal but nothing is lost, that’s how I look at it.

"As for the Drivers’ championship, we still have a lot of races ahead of us and it’s a very tiny margin. We will try and make the most from the weekend and work with the package we have."

Verstappen has certainly cut a focused and balanced figure when at least speaking about the championship and the ups and downs he has faced this season, and this is reflected again by these pretty balanced comments.

Of course, things are a little more emotional in the heat of battle but Max seems ready to focus fully on what lies ahead rather than what has gone, and this weekend's task needs him at his very best to avoid too much damage being done to his lead.