McLaren and Lando Norris are playing with fire or, worse, with Max Verstappen, the most voracious competitive animal in the history of Formula 1 and a racing madman; a combination that makes him the most dangerous element on the grid. If there is anyone who knows this very well, it is Norris, who this Saturday evening, in a bizarre environment like Las Vegas, could have left the World Cup practically doomed, but ended up needlessly complicating his life. The sixth victory of the season for the Red Bull flagship certainly does not have the rebellious effect that many would like so much spectacle, but it makes it clear that the Dutchman will ‘die by killing’, true to his predatory nature.
Norris’ second place does not leave him entirely satisfied for having lost the pole effect, even if this result, combined with Oscar Piastri’s success (he finished fourth), allows him to increase his position at the top of the general classification. The advantage over his teammate is now 30 points and 42 over Verstappen, a margin that can lead him to be crowned world champion next Sunday, in Qatar, one event before the set, in Abu Dhabi, in 15 days.
Russell closed out the podium, while Carlos Sainz crossed the finish line seventh, pacing an almost perfect Sunday for a Williams not up to those latitudes, and Fernando Alonso finished 13th, a miracle for an Aston Martin that is falling back.
That Verstappen is imposing himself was clear once again at the start with the fright that took the leader of the competition, who saw the reigning champion arriving like an airplane, and was so obsessed with trying to block his path that he forgot to stop the car. Norris slammed on the brakes in the dirt area of the first turn and went to turn at the fifth pinto, leaving a four-lane highway on the inside of the turn. The Dutchman sneaked in first and George Russell, immediately after, in two overtakings that forced the Somerset driver to empty himself to overtake the Mercedes driver and limit the fire that he himself had generated. When he overtook his compatriot and retook second place, with 15 laps to go, Verstappen was five seconds ahead. The scenario made the brave people who got up at dawn to sit in front of the TV rub their hands, anticipating an exchange of blows between the two fittest riders of the moment. “Pass George and let’s go find Max,” his race engineer, Will Joseph, told Norris, creating a drum roll that was simply that.
The long-awaited face-to-face will have to wait because it was decreed by Verstappen, who gave a final push to lower McLaren’s expectations and its main bet on winning the championship. Adding to the show of strength of the red star of the buffalo was the alarm lights that went off in the workshop of the facility in Woking (Great Britain), which asked her boyfriend to slow down, presumably due to a problem related to fuel consumption.
“Lando was very aggressive at the start, but I think he was too focused on the rear-view mirror and forgot to brake,” said the winner, who has amassed eight consecutive podiums. As for the few options he has to revalidate the title, the Hasselt guy stops making movies, because he knows they won’t take him anywhere interesting. “I go race by race, because the difference in points is very big. That’s why I don’t stress too much,” added Verstappen, much more satisfied with how Norris finished. “Even if I hadn’t missed the first corner, I don’t think we would have been able to win. It’s a shame that we don’t have enough pace to beat Red Bull in the dry,” summed up the McLaren driver, who wants to aim and commit to going as fast as possible every time he takes to the track, so as not to shake: “I’m disappointed not to have won. What I want is to win races.”
