Max Verstappen’s splendid initial streak, with four victories in the first five races of the Formula 1 World Championship, and seven of the first ten, . At that moment it was unthinkable to imagine that that same car would get the Dutchman mad, in the most decisive stretch of the season, in the middle of an exchange of blows with Lando Norris, the brawl that must decide who will be the next world champion. The prototype of the energy brand began the course with the same vigor that led Verstappen to pass the roller in the last two exercises, in which he celebrated the title much ahead of time by winning 15 (2022) and 19 (2023) grand prix , in the two best years that any rider has had in the history of the competition. However, that inertia experienced a sudden brake at the beginning of summer, just after the race in Montmeló (June 23), the last one that appeared on the service record of Mad Max. In Interlagos, the Wonder Boy of the red buffalo brand once again showed that if there is anyone fantastic it is him, by coming back from 17th position on the grid to victory, in the middle of an almost apocalyptic storm. That punch on the table cleared a horizon that had begun to become cloudy, and left him with the achievement of his fourth title on the verge of candy.
Verstappen can win his fourth crown in Las Vegas, this Sunday morning (07:00, Dazn), if one of the many cases that would allow him to sing the alirón, two tests before the championship lowers the curtain, fits. in Abu Dhabi. The least convoluted happens because he crosses the finish line ahead of Norris, an eventuality that has occurred more than half of the times (12 out of 21). Leaving the city of sin on the shoulders involves putting back what is missing in the car, something that has become the trend in recent months. On the frozen asphalt – 14 degrees at the start of the qualifying session – of the desert of Nevada, the boy from Hasselt has everything in mind to close the folder reserved for pilots. Red Bull’s flagship will start fifth, just ahead of Norris (sixth), the only one who could argue with him. The pole position George Russell took it, the third for the Mercedes driver in 2024, who in the third qualifying round (Q3) was less than a tenth ahead of Carlos Sainz. Fernando Alonso, for his part, could not make it past the first round and will start 17th.
Norris is a lifeless man. The boy from Somerset (Great Britain) is a beast with a steering wheel in his hands, but the responsibility weighs too much on him; Maybe that’s why he connects so much with the fans, “I don’t expect much from the race. We are not fast and it will be difficult to overtake. Furthermore, we have the car that demands the most from the tires, and that will be a transcendental element. We have always had these types of problems, from the moment I arrived at McLaren,” declared the Briton, once again defeated by the circumstances, very low in morale. The slap he received in Brazil left him back on the canvas and swimming in a sea of existential doubts, the kind that his rival seems to have never had — “he may not yet be ready to fight with Max and Red Bull,” he blurted out. Listening to him, the general feeling is that Norris is almost more eager than Verstappen for the World Championship to be doomed, a circumstance that could perfectly occur this weekend, luckily for Formula 1, which recovered the event in the most opulent setting possible and which He would sign his strategy with the crowning of his main claim.
