The Formula 1 season is drawing to a close. With three races to go, Lando Norris has a 24-point lead. Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen are in close pursuit. Will they spoil the Brit's chances?
At the Dutch GP in Zandvoort at the end of August, Lando Norris sat off the track with his head in his hands after an engine failure. He watched as his team-mate Oscar Piastri drove to victory and extended his lead in the drivers' championship to 34 points.
Six races have passed since then and the tide has turned - Norris is on the verge of his coronation. Since then, he has not only benefited from a place swap in Monza, when the Briton fell behind Piastri after a slow pit stop and the team ordered the Australian to hand 2nd place back to his team-mate, but also from Piastri's loss of form.
Piastri has not won since the race in Zandvoort and has even been waiting for a podium finish since his 3rd place in Monza. Since then, the Australian has scored just 42 points - Norris 97 in the same period, meaning that the 26-year-old Briton has not only closed the gap on Piastri, but has also overtaken him.
"I ignore what people say"
With a 24-point lead, Norris has catapulted himself into the role of favorite. What's more, he has been untouchable on the last two race weekends - pole position and victory in Mexico, pole position for both the sprint and the GP and victory in the sprint and the main race in Brazil.
What speaks for him, apart from his top form, is his increased mental strength over the course of this season. He was able to eradicate the bad starts and small mistakes during the races, and skillfully smiled away the boos and whistles in Mexico and Brazil. "I ignore what people say," he said in São Paulo after his eleventh success in Formula 1.
While the Brit is able to ignore the negativity, it seems to have taken hold in the mind of his Australian team-mate. The situation with the stable order in Monza played a role in the following race in Baku, as the 24-year-old said in the podcast "Beyond the Grid". In Azerbaijan, Piastri overslept the start and drove into the wall after 50 seconds.
Nevertheless, the relationship with Norris is still very good, if not better. "Sometimes there are short-lived emotions off the track, but we are both good at leaving things on the track," says the Australian.
Verstappen in the lurking position
Many expected the title fight between the two McLaren drivers to go down to the last lap in Abu Dhabi. What most would probably not have expected is that at this point in the season, it is still a three-way battle for the world championship crown thanks to Max Verstappen.
The Dutchman has won three of the last seven races and has finished no worse than third four times. However, because Norris has now pulled ahead again, the 28-year-old is 49 points behind with three race weekends to go - 83 points are still up for grabs (the final sprint race of the season is scheduled for Qatar).
Verstappen almost has to hope for a miracle, even if he is favored against the McLarens this weekend in Las Vegas. The Red Bull is to be rated more highly on tracks with long straights.
In Qatar and Abu Dhabi, Norris and Piastri are likely to have the advantage again. However, strategy will also play a major role in the 57-lap race in Qatar. Due to very high tire wear, the FIA has decided that a maximum of 25 laps can be driven with one set of tires.
