Confrontation on the track has dominated the world championship fight between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris for the previous two races but now closing out what has been a tempestuous and gruelling triple-header, Norris has the opportunity to take advantage in a manner that will make the most impact on the Dutchman without so much as a backward glance.
Verstappen will start on the back foot in Brazil with a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after changing his engine, leaving him in a starting position of at best sixth, and potentially even lower if the Red Bull has not closed the gap to Norris, McLaren and the recently resurgent Ferrari who have dominated the last two races. These are places that matter in an increasingly tight fight. Norris trails Verstappen by 47 points with four meetings remaining. This weekend and Qatar next month both include sprint races, taking the points still available to 120.
At the last round in Mexico, Norris took 10 points out of Verstappen and with a potential grid advantage the British driver must ideally maximise by taking another big chunk out of the world champion’s lead at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. He now has a good chance to do so by putting clear daylight on him on the track, an important factor given the Dutchman has made clear his position in being uncompromising in how he races.
The incidents in Austin and Mexico prompted a vigorous debate and no little criticism that Verstappen was driving dangerously in order to secure any advantage. In Mexico it appeared to pay off, before his time penalties, when Norris was held up behind the Red Bull after Verstappen had illegally passed him, allowing Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to open a lead from which he could not be caught, costing Norris valuable points.
Norris too has been criticised for not being as aggressive as his opponent but he was clear in Brazil, whether it is viewed as weakness or good character, that is not how he wants to go racing. His approach and stance was very pointedly backed by the McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, on Friday.
“Lando reflects in the way he goes racing our own values: we race fair, we race in a correct way, we race in a sportsmanlike way,” he said. “Lando is coping with being in the fight for the championship in a way that we are enjoying. He is fast, the racecraft improving all the time, the attitude, the learning. Lando is now a mature driver to succeed in this kind of fight.”
It is, equally, simplistic to imply Norris would be better off resisting Verstappen and risking a crash. He cannot. A DNF (did not finish) would effectively end his chances, whereas Verstappen could take the blow and still enjoy a good lead.
So it is a numbers game for the world champion and Red Bull are looking at the percentages in Brazil. In Mexico, the Red Bull was surrendering between 3-8km/h on the straight and the team had no option but to install a new engine with four meetings still to go.
Brazil, a good track for overtaking, offers perhaps the best opportunity to make up places from down the grid but Verstappen remained circumspect. “It’s something that is always unknown,” he said. “You think that one particular track is the best place to take an engine or whatever penalty, but it’s never guaranteed.”
He knows that is the case not least because with the sprint race on Saturday, only one practice session is on offer to set up the cars. So the stakes are high, fail to nail it and that grid penalty could be even more painful and coming back from it even harder.
Ferrari of course will have something to say about all this over the weekend. Their target is the constructors’ title, where they now lie second to McLaren, a feasible goal for the Scuderia, and Sainz and Charles Leclerc will expect to be players in Brazil, as well might Mercedes. Their positions relative to Verstappen now the vital variables in what should be a fascinating weekend.
The weekend opened well for McLaren with Oscar Piastri taking pole for the sprint race in front of his teammate Norris by just two-hundredths of a second, raising the prospect of McLaren potentially employing team orders to maximise Norris’s points. Leclerc was third and Verstappen in fourth. Lewis Hamilton struggled and will start in 11th for the race to be held on Saturday afternoon before qualifying for the grand prix.
Britain’s Oliver Bearman has been called up to replace Haas’s Kevin Magnussen who is unwell and will compete for the team for the rest of the weekend. Bearman, currently the team’s reserve, is set to join Haas as a full-time driver next season.
