McLaren Must Become Cautious of Ferrari Instead of Hunting down Max Verstappen

After a long time, McLaren had no trophy to show in its garage on Sunday, all thanks to the penalty imposed on Lando Norris. The Briton was penalized for overtaking Max Verstappen out of the track limits ahead of the final four laps.

Later, he refused to concede his position to the reigning world champion, believing that he was correct and Verstappen forced him off track. Despite that, the stewards favored their decision toward Verstappen.

The final result meant that Norris couldn’t further slash Verstappen’s championship lead. On the contrary, Verstappen outscored Norris by taking three additional points from the Grand Prix and extended his lead to 57 points.

Though that hasn’t killed Norris’ mission to win his maiden title, and coming to Mexico, McLaren will be hunting down Verstappen yet again. But, there are more problems about to unfold for the Papaya team, as they might not be the fastest in every round going forward.

Ferrari’s threat for McLaren

While Red Bull failed to do wonders with their final big upgrade of the season, Ferrari is the one that might do the job for Verstappen. In Austin, Ferrari was clearly the fastest side, even though they made no change to the car before traveling across the Atlantic.

There should be no doubt that Ferrari can be faster in some of the remaining races too. Charles Leclerc, the winner of the US Grand Prix, claims that they can beat McLaren in the championship if they “do everything right”.

Carlos Sainz also seconded this notion, as he thinks Ferrari can be stronger in two of the next five races, “If I had to bet, I would say Mexico and Las Vegas are good tracks based on what we saw in 2023. I’m basing it a bit on last year, although this year everything seems a bit different.”

However, he has warned that Qatar could be brutal to them while Abu Dhabi remains an unknown territory.

Ferrari is only 48 points behind McLaren, slightly less difference between Norris and Verstappen, but far more achievable. On top of that, Sainz has a memory to make.

Sainz: There is a race to win

Sainz will be giving his last five appearances with Ferrari, after which he will move to Williams’ facility in Grove. Over there, it’s an accepted truth that Sainz might not be winning a podium anytime soon, forget about a race.

The Spaniard himself admitted it. So, it is his resolve to at least fetch a win in Ferrari colors before he moves on to a new journey in life. With Norris and Verstappen locked in a tough title battle, another driver winning a race could complicate matters for either of them.

So, if another Austin repeat happens, Norris could kiss goodbye to his dream to be the champion this year.

Meanwhile, Norris should also start worrying about Leclerc, who has sneaked in to be much closer to the McLaren star than anticipated.

Leclerc can claim P2

The Monegasque driver has notched up three race wins this season, equaling Norris — who is the championship contender. Apart from a mid-season dip from Ferrari, Leclerc has managed to put on a consistent show in 2024.

With the Austin win, he is only 22 points behind Norris, much closer than the Briton is to Verstappen. So, Norris must watch out for Leclerc chasing him, while he challenges the Dutchman.

Surely, Norris would want to give all-in for the title even if it costs him P2 in the standings at the end of the day. However, McLaren can’t say that and be complacent. Teams value the constructors’ championship more as that is where most of the prize money is.

So, while McLaren, who recently started to focus all its energy on Norris’ campaign, must re-align its priorities to the original plan: to win the constructors’ title.

The real winners are the fans

The US Grand Prix just proved that the remainder of the season is going to be enticing and full of storylines, which they missed in 2023. Further, the cars next year are unlikely to be much different from this season.

So, the last few races could be perceived as the trailer for the next season. The close battles among the teams could give a season like never before.

On top of that, drivers would have little margin for error to sustain their teams’ objectives. Not to forget, Mercedes this season has shown that they could pick wins too, and if developments are made right, they could be the dark horses in 2025.

So, a four-way team battle next year is something that would be unprecedented in the sport. Something, the fans have been deprived of since 2021.