Lando Norris’ long tussle with Max Verstappen might come to an end at this weekend’s race in Las Vegas, as the Briton probably doesn’t have enough ammunition to combat his rival. McLaren seemed to struggle since Friday, and it reflected in qualifying when they failed to break into the top five.
Norris qualified in P6 while Verstappen managed to get a P5. With Ferrari and Mercedes clearly seeming faster, it leaves Norris with little hope for a great result on Saturday.
“I don’t know. We’re not very fast. I don’t expect too much. It’s going to be extremely difficult to overtake. The graining of the tires is complicated and we are the car that uses the tires the most,” said Norris.
Norris has further blamed the lack of grip in tires for McLaren’s failure to perform. He also points to slow corners as his weakness.
“you’re going to start behind max, do you know what that means for the championship? is your first challenge to overtake him?”
lando: i mean max has pretty much won the championship, so for me it’s just every position. i don’t care if it’s max or any other driver. i want to go… pic.twitter.com/L7vKr1EVxd
— ray (@ln4norris) November 23, 2024
“Everyone has problems, but we are more affected. The way we drive our car is not suited to this level of grip. If you do a magical lap, the pace is there, but it is almost impossible to do it,” added Norris.
Norris is mathematically still in the championship fight. The only thing he needs to do to prolong the championship fight is to prevent Verstappen from outscoring him, but his words suggest that it might be difficult.
Will Verstappen become the champion this weekend?
Verstappen is the favorite to seal his fourth consecutive championship this weekend itself as he just needs a 60-point gap against the McLaren star after the conclusion of this race to seal his title. Moreover, with Verstappen being in a better starting position for the race, he would try his best to keep Norris behind him. This could be the first race this season where no Red Bull or McLaren driver finishes on the podium, as both Ferrari and Mercedes seem to have a better car for this weekend.
And with Ferrari having performed better than McLaren in qualifying, the Woking-based outfit may need to focus more on them as the Constructors’ title is very much still on the line. With three races remaining, including this weekend’s Las Vegas GP, Ferrari are 36 points behind leaders McLaren.
