Resurgent Formula One champion Max Verstappen rejected a suggestion he had "lost interest" when Red Bull were struggling earlier this season and said he had always fought hard for every point.
The Dutch driver was responding at the Mexican Grand Prix on Thursday to a comment by Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, a close ally who has played an important role in the Dutch driver's career.
"Max at one stage when we were not competitive, I would say he lost a little bit of interest," the 82-year-old Austrian told Sky Sports television in Texas last weekend after the driver won the sprint and main race from pole position.
Verstappen fell 104 points behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri at the end of August but has since roared back with three wins in the last four races.
He is now 40 points behind the Australian with five rounds remaining and back in contention for what would be a fifth successive title.
"Of course it's more enjoyable coming to the race weekends like this than knowing that you don't have a chance to win," the driver, a five-times winner in Mexico, told reporters.
"But I know for myself that when I sit in the car, I always try to maximize everything that I have. And I give it everything.
"So even if I'm fighting for fourth or even ninth, I will always try to get the best out of it."
Verstappen has a keen interest in sportscar racing, competing and winning in the GT3 category at the Nuerburgring last month.
Marko had suggested the driver was allowed to do that "to keep him in a good mood".
"Now that the car is working, and his success at the Nuerburgring, I would say two tenths just came from him because he's really motivated ... you don't hear him shouting, he's smiling - that's what you need," he added.
Verstappen said the Nuerburgring race had been arranged far in advance and he had been competing online during the season and on F1 weekends for years already.
"There's nothing really that has changed in terms of how professional I approach my race weekends," he said.
Verstappen said the upturn in the car's performance was a "combination of a lot of things" including upgrades that allowed it to run in a different configuration.
"These cars are super-sensitive, right? So you're sliding a bit less, the tires also work a bit better and that gives you also better race pace.
"So it's a lot of things that just came together that suddenly unlocked quite a bit more pace within the car. And that gives me more confidence and allowed us also to set up the car a little bit more aggressive."
