At the dawn of an increasingly uncertain end to the season, Formula 1 world championship leader Max Verstappen arrives in the United States with a mission. That of containing his rival in the general, the Briton from McLaren, Lando Norris.
After a truce of almost a month, F1 resumes its rights for a final marathon of six Grands Prix in eight weeks, which starts this weekend on the Circuit of the Americas, scene of the 19e round of the season.
“Many will bring updates”
If Norris wants to take advantage of the sequence to take the advantage over Verstappen in the quest for the Grail (which would be his first title in F1), the fiery Dutchman has not said his last word, despite the recent lack of performance of its Red Bull.
His red bull team took advantage of the break to get back on track and should arrive in Texas with an improved car. If the developments have not yet been revealed, the objective will above all be to reduce the gap with McLaren, which took the lead in the constructors’ world championship in mid-September.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen is currently 52 points ahead of his first pursuer Norris. But during the last four GPs, the Englishman has systematically finished ahead of his rival. With a maximum of 180 points still to be distributed, Norris must score on average nine points more per weekend than the reigning champion until the last GP, in Abu Dhabi in early December, to be titled.
“Many teams will be making updates to their cars in the final races, so we expect close competition”however anticipates Andrea Stella, the head of McLaren, who has become the leading force on the field thanks to the consistency of his drivers Norris and the Australian Oscar Piastri.
“Everything remains to be played for”
Ferrari, third among manufacturers, will also arrive in Texas with a series of improvements to its SF-24. “We have to be at the top of our game, because the leading teams are equal and everything remains to be played for,” recalled Scuderia boss Frédéric Vasseur.
Fourth overall, Mercedes especially hopes to have recovered during the break, after having experienced a “really painful evening” at the end of the Singapore GP, where the W15 showed itself “just slow” by the admission of its director Toto Wolff. “We are going to bring our last improvements of the season to Texas,” also explained the Austrian at the start of the week, “to try to close the gap with the leading teams”.
Liam Lawson is back
Another team, another novelty, at Racing Bulls, the New Zealander Liam Lawson will compete in his first GP of the season replacing the very popular Australian Daniel Ricciardo, dismissed by Red Bull’s sister team due to his lack of performance.
The 22-year-old driver, who made his notable debut in the elite in 2023 to replace the injured Ricciardo for five races, appears as a serious candidate to potentially recover the seat of the Mexican Sergio Pérez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull. The stakes will therefore be high for the Japanese’s new teammate Yuki Tsunoda, also in the running to replace Pérez.
This Sunday, October 20, race at 8:55 p.m., on Canal+ Sport 360.
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