4 hours ago
3
Hand McLaren a gun and they would blow off their own trotters. So Lando Norris, the worrywart, goes to Abu Dhabi for the season finale with the title still at stake.
And the irrepressible Max Verstappen, winner here under lights in Qatar, is still in the hunt for a fifth consecutive world championship a result of a catastrophic strategy blunder by his rivals.
Now, remind us, has the Dutchman ever prevailed in extraordinary circumstances in the capital of the United Arab Emirates before?
Is a repeat of his controversial victory of 2021 written in the stars, this time from 12 points adrift of Norris, whose head, quite apart from McLaren's error, was whirling like a Spinning Jenny as he only finished fourth?
The question was precisely the one McLaren wanted to eliminate at all costs on Sunday night. They wanted either Norris to wrap it up with a race to spare or at least render the decider an internal squabble between their British star and Australian Oscar Piastri, runner-up here and now 16 points off the summit.
They wanted Mad Max out of the equation, and then they could breathe easily knowing that one way or another they would have pulled off the team's first drivers' title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix to take the Formula One title race to the final day
Lando Norris, the worrywart, will have a 12-point lead in the standings knowing he could have wrapped up the title in Qatar
Instead, as McLaren chief executive Zak Brown, observed of Verstappen he is 'that guy in the horror movie who keeps coming back' even when he has been shot. Now Norris must finish third in Abu Dhabi to be assured of the title regardless of the Red Bull's hot-rod.
The turning point came on lap seven when Alpine's Pierre Gasly caught Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 2. Hulkenberg, overtaking on the outside, was punted off. The safety car came out and every car, bar three, peeled into the pits.
This was a free stop that was clear not to be neglected. Haas's Esteban Ocon stayed out. The only other two cars to do so? The McLarens, then running first and third, Piastri leading from pole, Norris down a place from his grid position having being passed by a supersonic Verstappen at the start.
The defending champion has nothing to lose off the line, was away lickety-split, squeezed Norris, and was away. Norris, playing the percentages, was prepared to bide his time rather than risk an entanglement.
What were McLaren thinking of? It seemed that they did not want to double stack their cars in the pits, which would have disadvantaged the man behind, namely Norris.
They have tied themselves in knots to be 'fair', the spirit of their so-dubbed Papaya Rules pervading. It helped them to win the constructors' title as long ago as Azerbaijan in September. But winning the drivers' title is a cut-throat business of another order. It is most easily achieved with a clear No1 and a good wingman. This is not the case at McLaren and now they must wonder whether their chances are melting like butter.
Background: the wear on tyres at Lusail International Circuit is particularly severe and it was mandated that there would be a maximum of 25 laps between stops. That meant that with seven laps gone, the majority who came in could go on until 32. The McLarens had to stop on lap 25. And a pit stop here is long – 25 seconds. And that meant that they would emerge down the road in traffic.
Verstappen could then zoom clear for seven more laps, stop once more, and then a repeat as McLaren pitted again.
A McLaren blunder came when they opted not to pit their drivers under the safety car early
Norris must now finish at least third Abu Dhabi to guarantee a title win, no matter where Verstappen finishes
Oscar Piastri, also in the running for the title, said he was 'speechless' after his lead disappeared
'I'm speechless,' said Piastri afterwards, the dispiriting 57 laps completed. 'I don't have any words,' as he crossed the line, aghast at the error. In fairness, Piastri was the man robbed. He was leading and was faultless. 'An interesting move,' observed Verstappen wryly.
Norris was not blameless on the road, betraying nerves, flinching at clutch moments – a leitmotif of his campaign, at times brilliant, at others brittle.
While Piastri blasted past Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli to make the best of the hand of jokers dealt to him, the championship leader ran off and wondered if he had damaged his car at Turn 14 – oversteer – on lap 37.
He also tarried behind Antonelli for too long, only passing the Italian on the penultimate lap when he ran wide – a potentially crucial difference in the end perhaps, as without the freedom of the highway he would have finished fifth and therefore have needed to finish runner-up in Abu Dhabi to be certain of glory. As a result of Norris's slow progress, Williams's Carlos Sainz held on to third place. It was a fine drive from the Spaniard.
The inquest will start at McLaren, again, in an attempt to stop the pendulum swinging so far it knocks them all out. Norris and team are in a concussed state of mind already. They are seeing nothing clearly, and it is the usual refrain of 'discussing it as a team' with the methodology of team principal Andrea Stella, second in charge behind Brown, under strain.
With his Papaya Rules, the Italian has almost made a social experiment of intra-team harmony among his obliging pair. But will it be the undoing of both his men? Which is a sort of equality, just not the sort he wanted.
Whatever, they are making it unbelievably hard for themselves. And it is the horror movie villain of Brown's nightmares who is pushing them to the brink. 'It's still possible,' said Verstappen of his title chances. 'I am not thinking about it too much.'
Some others are overthinking it.
