Verstappen vs. Norris: the keys that could decide the F1 World Cup

Lando Norris took a big hit on the table in the GP of F1 Netherlands at the wheel of a McLaren that, with the latest evolutions presented at Zandvoortwas shown to be the best car last Sunday to face the final rounds of the course.

In this way, at the wheel of the best car (until we see how his rivals continue to evolve), Lando Norris scored 8 points Max Verstappen and put themselves 70 behind the leader and current three-time world champion in the fight for the title. This brings us to the question every F1 fan asks: Is there a World Cup? You can Lando Norris press Max until the last race or the English reaction and McLaren is it too late

Norris has to win and win

Mathematics says yes, there is worldthat Lando Norris He has options, and indeed, if he wins everything and achieves all the fastest laps, it depends on himself. If you win the 9 races left and add 9 points matching the fastest lap in all races on Sunday and Max Verstappen finish 2nd in all those events, it will take away 8 points per race for a total of 72. Lando will win the World Cup by two points.

But there is more: 3 events left in the sprintthat is, the chance to achieve another 24 points (8 for the winner of each sprint race).

However, the main question is whether Lando Norris can be constant. His car took a big step forward and Max Verstappen He is struggling with his car. But Landau He is facing something new. In fact, won 9 races in a row, including at Zandvoortit would win 10 consecutive dates, something that has historically only been achieved Verstappen (in 2023) with a car superior to others. Does Norris have enough margin and consistency to match that record? It should be complicated.

Perhaps the logic could indicate the opposite, because last year Red Bull did not have much competition at the top and this season it is easier for Mercedes or Ferrari to fight on some favorable tracks. And that can be important. Those cars can be the judges of the championship if they take points from one or the other in the battle for the title.

Monza and Singapore, important: Ferrari can be the judge

In that sense, the Italian GP this weekend or for example the Singapore eventcan be the key, two tracks with very specific characteristics and different from others where McLaren He may not be such a favorite or he may have Ferrari as his great rival, who is always good at his home track and in Singapore. Without walking any further, Carlos Sainz He took pole position last year against Red Bull in a year dominated by energy drinks, although his bigger tire breakdown prevented him from winning, a problem that has been resolved for this year. And in Singapore, the Madrid native was able to win and surely break Max’s 10-match winning streak, something the men in red can repeat in Singapore after the dominance of Leclerc in Monaco.

On these tracks, yes Lando Norris wanted to continue putting pressure on Max and came close, he couldn’t afford to lose points to the Ferraris.

But in turn, this could also affect Red Bull. The fact that there are more cars in the fight could take more points from Max if several drivers are put between him and Lando at events like Singapore, where Max is expected to suffer. And maybe also in Monza.

In that context, it would help Lando to have Oscar Piastri, who failed at Zandvoort. Meanwhile, it seems more complicated that ‘Checo’ may join the fight to help the champion.

Is there a World Cup? The heroes answered

“I worked hard all year and I’m still 70 points behind Max. So it’s a bit stupid to think about anything now. I’m taking it race by race because there’s no point in thinking about the future and thinking about the rest. “I don’t care right now. I’m just thinking about the next race,” said Lando Norris, taking the pressure off himself by referring to the fact of thinking about the title as “stupid”, although finally recognizing now, “100%”, McLaren has the best car.

“I think this weekend has been bad overall. We have to understand that. But the last few races have not been fantastic. I think, in a sense, it’s a bit alarming. But we know we don’t need to panic. We are just trying to improve the situation. And that’s what we do. But F1 is very complicated,” Verstappen commented on this matter.

Sainz, when asked by MD, was also clear. Is it possible for Max to lose a World Cup with a 70-point lead? The Spaniards replied: “Obviously if Max continues in second or third place, I think it’s worth winning, because at some point McLaren will fail too.”

“The truth is also true that if Max starts to fail, it can get complicated. And we all know that, as proven many times, once a person is put under pressure, everything starts to fail. Verstappen and Red Bull seemed unbeatable a year ago, and now that McLaren has arrived, they are no longer unbeatable.. It shows that you have to be there, put everything under pressure, and then all the teams and drivers always get lost somewhere. So the only thing you have to do is there,” Carlos added to this newspaper. That is, anything can happen and it should not be taken for granted that Lando could end up for the title, this is news because of Max dominated the previous years and at the beginning of the same course.

The height of McLaren: a devastating truth

Verstappen won the Japanese GP of this year on April 7 with at least 29.7 seconds ahead of a Norris who could only be 5th in that race Miami and Red Bull He started having problems. The tone changed. and on Zandvoortwith another great evolution, just 4 months later, Norris He won with a 22-second advantage over Max, which could have been more had Lando not lost the first position at the start to Verstappen. The data is devastating.

Verstappen had a lot of problems with his car

Every time McLaren introduces improvements, the car responds. The same did not happen with Red Bull, whose developments did not go smoothly. Although in the paddock there was speculation that the FIA ​​might have banned something from the car regarding energy drinks which completely undermined it. You will never know.

The truth is that the Red Bull is a very unstable car, difficult to drive at the limit, and only Max can tame it to do things that seem impossible and fight at the top every weekend. But how long will Max be able to cover the car’s deficits and minimize the losses? Is it enough to win the title?

Max struggles with the balance of the car from Miamiof which he had a small grip. He struggled to take pole at Imola because it was difficult for him to get around the curves with this car. And at Zandvoort, he was seen struggling to turn some corners, with more degradation and balance problems throughout the weekend. The worst part is that the solutions are conspicuous by their absence.. Things are not looking good. And on top of that, Red Bull’s aerodynamics wizard Adrian Newey is gonewho in other years find quick and bold solutions to correct minor problems they may have had before they grew up.

“The whole weekend has been the same. I mean, I’ve had practically the same balance from Free Practice 1 to the race. The limits are the same. So it’s something very difficult to solve at the moment. It seems like we’re very slow, but also pretty bad with the degradation right now. It’s a little strange, because I think the last few years we’ve done pretty well. “So something went wrong recently with the car that we have to understand and we have to, of course, try to improve quickly.”.

If there are 9 races left you need to understand things you don’t understand about your car, something is wrong. And at the front, Lando Norris and McLaren are smiling with a car that is a rocket and goes well on all kinds of tracks. Max can be saved by his persistence, how he took advantage of the first races of the year to crush when he had the best car and the many mistakes McLaren made since Imola when Red Bull started to suffer. He has achieved a great cushion and continues to do wonders to reduce losses. If the three-time champions can win this World Cup and be crowned for the fourth time it will be a masterpiece.