Lando Norris is driving for arguably F1’s fastest team – McLaren – at the moment but is still a long way behind Max Verstappen in the standings. But the Woking-based outfit’s strong pace could be a reason for optimism in Norris’ camp. In order to use that optimism to his advantage, Norris has some catching up to do.
Verstappen is 78 points ahead of Norris in the standings, and there are 10 races to go this campaign. With two Sprint weekends still remaining, it is a gap that theoretically can be closed down. However, as pointed out by Ian Parkes of RacingNews365 on their podcast, Norris has to put double the work Sebastian Vettel did in 2012.
At one point in the 2012 season, Vettel was 39 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso. Many thought that the battle was done and dusted, but the German driver clawed back to become a three-time champion.
Norris‘ deficit is twice what Vettel had to overcome, which makes the British driver’s task much more daunting. Parkes, for one, does not think Norris will be able to pull this off. He said, “There are 284 points up for grabs… And 78 points, you’ve got to think that’s just too much.”
Other than Vettel’s comeback in 2012, there have been some other sizable gaps drivers have overcome in the past. However, most of those gaps were overcome in a different era altogether.
Major turnarounds in F1 title races
Vettel’s 2012 title win was a brilliant recovery, but it still isn’t the biggest turnaround. The Race compiled a list of drivers who had to overcome the biggest points gaps to win their respective championships, and James Hunt is on top of the list.
The legendary Briton won the 1976 title by being 97 points (adjusted to the current scoring system) behind his rival Niki Lauda.
However, points are awarded in a different way nowadays. Verstappen too features on the list, as he overcame a 46-point deficit in 2022 to win his second world title. But the deficit Verstappen had to championship leader Charles Leclerc was too early in the season. Hence, the Dutchman had ample time to make amends.
Norris, on the other hand, does not have time on his side. Under the current points-scoring system, overcoming a 78-point deficit to Verstappen in just 10 races is going to be extremely difficult.
