Nothing that happens this Sunday in Interlagos (6.00pm, Dazn) will be definitive in the first three-way brawl in Formula 1 of hybrid technology. But the slips do not penalize the same if we take into account that the margin to correct them is increasingly narrow. Max Verstappen knows it, the one who arrives fastest at the decisive stage of the season, and Oscar Piastri also knows it, involved in the disastrous dynamic from which his factory neighbor, Lando Norris, emerged with that patina of stupendousness this attracts some and repels others. Red Bull, normally Verstappen’s ally, made life difficult for him this time in Brazil, where the Flying Dutchman left the Dutchman speechless after being eliminated in the first qualifying round (Q1), in which he finished 16th. On a very delicate asphalt due to the rain that put a strain on the short test, the lack of grip tormented the energy team and its flagship, which showed up at its trailer with a crazy face: “I don’t understand anything”.
It had been four years since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix that the reigning champion had seen one, even though on that occasion he came out last due to a breakdown in his car. In fact, this is the third time since wearing the red Buffalo brand tracksuit (2016) that he has been excluded from Q2 for a reason not related to problems with his car. Norris, which ceased to exist in less than a month the pupae the big favorite for the title, will start from pole position, the sixth for him so far this season, and the second in a row; while Piastri, who doesn’t touch the ball, will be fourth. Fernando Alonso will be eleventh and Fernando Alonso fifteenth.
Verstappen has the hairiest hair in mathematical terms. Emotionally the most affected is the Australian, whose last victory dates back to the end of August, in Zandvoort, right where the frenetic recovery of ‘Mad Max’ began. Since then the multiple champion has achieved a haul: he has scored 121 points, with three victories out of five possible; for Norris’ 90 points and the Melbourne boy’s 47, the least fruitful of the top five in that time window. In the penultimate sprint of the year, this Saturday, in Brazil, Piastri came into the barriers and made it easier for his teammate to increase his margin at the top of the World Championship, which is now nine points in his favor. Verstappen is third, 39 points behind his friend and 30 behind the Victoria driver.
Without knowing much about hunting or even pretending to, it’s not hard to imagine that any hunt requires a little strategy if you don’t want to go home with an empty trailer. What Verstappen aspires to is not this, but to complete what would be the most brutal recovery in the history of Formula 1. Getting into a Red Bull that spread its wings in Monza thanks to a relaunch that began with a new flat bottom, the current champion found himself in a favorable situation caused by the ‘fratricidal’ clash between Norris and Piastri. The two are still engaged in a McLaren that started as the best car on the grid before slipping into a hole that is difficult to interpret from the outside, from which Norris seems to have found a way out. Between one thing and another, the 104 points that separated the Dutch from the leaders (Piastri) two months ago have been divided almost by three. This means an average cut of 20.0 points per Grand Prix in that period, although it will be practically impossible for the Hasselt driver to maintain that trend in Brazil, where last season he started 17th and managed to cross the finish line second, in a comeback that is unlikely to be repeated.
