Max Verstappen has had an incredibly dominant season so far, with 17 wins out of 20 races so far. There’s seemingly no competition for Max and his RB19 at this point, but some late boomers have managed to take the fight to him in recent races. Lando Norris and his McLaren have been one of the most competitive contestants for the Dutch championship so far.
Every weekend, the races get much more interesting due to the close finishes and how far the drivers are able to chase behind Max Verstappen on race day. Lando Norris recently finished second during the Brazilian GP, utilizing his improved McLaren and he was very close to Max during the fight for the race win. With only two races remaining so far, the game has been intensified and the teams are looking forward to snatching yet another win from the clutches of Red Bull.
Red Bull characterizes Verstappen’s tactical battle with Lando Norris
The Brazilian GP was an absolute sea of probabilities, with so many contenders for the ultimate win. Lando Norris, however, was the driver with the best shot at it because he started second on the grid during Sunday’s race. He further used the best set of tyres available to maximize the chance of overtaking ‘Supermax’. The war of strategies and tactics involved during the race even promoted team boss Christian Horner to praise Norris and his duel with Max Verstappen.
Christian Horner further added to the discussion by providing his own point of view about this exhilarating battle between them.
“I think there was definitely a race,” explained Horner. “So, I was relieved to see Max keep the lead at the end of the first lap.“But then it becomes a game of cat and mouse, because it’s about looking after the tyres and not stressing them too much. You are telling the driver look after the tyres, but pull out a gap – and the tow here is pretty powerful.”
“But just like in the sprint, Max managed it incredibly well and was able to start to pull a gap. We then pitted on the same lap as Lando, and we actually extended the lead through the pitstop to just over five seconds. Then, on the medium, he had everything under control in the last stint. In the end it was reasonably straightforward, but McLaren definitely have been, over the last few races, our closest competitor.”
Ralf Schumacher identifies Norris as Max Verstappen’s key challenger
Out of all the challengers so far, Lando Norris and McLaren have constantly appeared through the words of F1 pundits and race predictors. Max Verstappen personally recognized them as threats and declared that he won’t let his guard down if he wants to win. Some F1 pundits also predicted Lando Norris’s first win in this season, which has been awaited for long now. It is apt that he will be the most preferred driver for potential race win in Las Vegas or Abu Dhabi.
“Lando Norris has become the number one pursuer,” Schumacher wrote in his Sky Germany column. “But he still makes too many mistakes, especially in qualifying.
“Norris reminds me a bit of Charles Leclerc. However, Norris is doing a great job in the race. Norris’ problem is that he wants too much in qualifying. Then he overshoots and makes too many mistakes.”
Max Verstappen will have to be careful about the recent developments in the ending stage of F1 2023 season if he wants to 18-19 races as claimed by Lewis Hamilton. Do you think he will be able to get this record? Drop your predictions down in the comments section.
