Three races to go, we resume from Las Vegas with Lando and his Mc Laren who have the wind in their sails but Piastri and Verstappen are still hoping
The last shot placed him in Interlagos. In a few months, looking back at this Formula 1 season, the weekend in Brazil could become the decisive one for the awarding of the drivers’ world title. Lando Norris extended his lead over teammate Oscar Piastri to 24 points in the standings. And the Mc Larens have once again become the cars to beat, demonstrating both in testing and in the race (and also in the Sprint) that they have a different pace than all the other teams. In addition to the points advantage, which is no small thing with three grands prix to go, Norris seems more focused than his teammate Piastri who after a dark period showed signs of awakening in Interlagos. Fifth place in Brazil can’t be considered a great result for Piastri, but it’s still something given that the light seemed to have gone out after Mexico City.
Norris’s papers
The Englishman has built up a nice lead, but now the pressure is all on him and the real difficulty will be precisely this: demonstrating that you have the maturity necessary to manage the decisive moments will be the key to winning the World Championship. Piastri risks becoming the great loser of this World Cupand, he had a huge advantage and above all he seemed to have gained leadership within the Mc Laren team, leaving Norris the role of second driver. In reality the team never made a precise choice, leaving the two drivers free and all in all the strategy proved to be successful because the two continue to be the leaders of the World Championship. Obviously, driving the fastest car on almost all the circuits was a great advantage for both of us.
The Verstappen variable
And then there is the Max variableunanimously considered the best driver on the circuit, certainly the fastest but his Red Bull is not up to the Mc Laren’s. The Dutchman is 49 points behind Norris and the chase is now starting to get difficult. In Zandvoort Max was 104 points away from the world leader (who was Piastri at the time), he therefore earned 55 points between Monza, Baku, Singapore, Austin, Mexico City and Interlagos, but the great Mc Laren crisis seems over and in Brazil the “papayas” were much faster than the Red Bull. Three races remaining and therefore 75 points available (for first place) in addition to the 8 that will be assigned by the Sprint that will take place in Qatar. With these minimal gaps, anything can still happen. But Norris in Las Vegas can provide the decisive breakthrough, even if Verstappen on the Nevada circuit has wonderful memories of last season when he won the world title for the fourth time.
