Guys… I think Lando might do it

Last weekend in Brazil felt like a defining point in this year’s F1 Drivers World Championship. 

After spending the first two-thirds of this season being outclassed by his teammate – former F2 and F3 champion Oscar Piastri – the fact that Lando Norris leaves São Paulo with a 24-point lead in the standings seemed near unfathomable six races ago, when he sat among the dunes watching his engine go up in smoke. 

His performances since that Zandvoort DNF have certainly gone under the radar compared to Max Verstappen’s ominous autumn form, but recently, as the Red Bull car has started to misbehave again, Norris outscoring Piastri at every event since The Netherlands has been thrust into the light.  

Pole in Sprint Qualifying followed by an unchallenged Sprint win started things off nicely in Interlagos for the Brit, sweetened by Verstappen’s drivability issues and Piastri’s race finishing in the Turn 3 barriers. While not the only one to make the mistake, perhaps the pressure of a now-evaporated championship lead, coupled with recent lacking performances, has caused the less experienced McLaren driver to start over-pushing.  

This, combined with one of Norris’s most impressive poles to date – a pressure-ridden one-shot lap while P10 in Q3 – put him in good stead to collect maximum points from the weekend, especially after a forgettable P4 for Piastri and a disastrous P16 for Verstappen (the worst performance-based qualifying position of his entire career!). 

Verstappen and Red Bull’s miraculous overnight turnaround – driving on Sunday from the pitlane to the podium (in the dry!) – has certainly taken the headlines, and reiterated Verstappen’s status as the best driver in F1 at the moment. But Norris’s untroubled waltz to the win – and a controversial 10-second penalty which cost Piastri valuable points – now sees him in a position where he can mathematically clinch his first Championship at the penultimate round in Qatar. 

Norris has often been previously criticised, not least by myself, for not possessing a “champion’s mentality”, showcased frequently in his meek and excuse-filled interviews during his Championship battle dress rehearsal against Verstappen last year. This, combined with an often insufferable fanbase, did not make him a particularly popular Championship contender among non-McLaren fans for most of this season. 

However, whatever Norris and his team have been doing behind the scenes is obviously working, and I must now concede that I am thoroughly impressed. If he keeps these performances up he will, undoubtedly, be worthy of that number “1” next year… 

Next event: Las Vegas GP, Fri 21^st – Sun 23^rd November 2025 

Drivers’ Championship:

Constructors’ Championship:

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