After losing out the most from their clash at the end of the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris left the Red Bull Ring with an 81-point deficit to Max Verstappen at the top of the drivers’ championship.
Over the months that followed, Norris and McLaren have gradually chipped away at that advantage. But if the threat that Norris poses to the world champion is to progress from hypothetical to credible, he needs to take a paradigm-shifting chunk of points out of his advantage.
Norris is unlikely to get a better opportunity to that than today. Heading into what will be an unpredictable wet race from pole position with Verstappen starting down in the midfield, Norris could come away from today in a completely different situation championship-wise than he did when he woke up this morning.
With the rain set to continue, it is going to be a wet Brazilian Grand Prix. The last-minute decision by organisers to move the race start earlier to try and avoid the worst of the expected afternoon rain could be the difference between getting a full race in or even a race at all. But the race that does take place will be extremely treacherous with drivers not able to be at anything other than the top of their games for the entire duration.
But Norris is in the best position possible to take advantage of this golden opportunity presented to him. With a clear track, he will have the best visibility in the field as well as likely the best car to exploit that advantage.
Although Verstappen appears to be bracing for a major blow to his championship lead, he could be helped out by rivals ahead being unable to take the start with damaged cars or the race itself being shortened because of rain or incidents resulting in red flags. If the race does not complete 75 percent of the scheduled laps – around lap 54 – partially reduced points will be awarded. A not inconsequential factor in this equation.
Either way, if Norris seriously wants to win this world championship or have any hope of taking a title in the future, he needs to capitalise on a day like today. The only questions are can he, and what can Verstappen do to try and minimise the damage to his championship lead?
Weather
The most important element of today’s race will, naturally, be the weather. Just how bad it is going to be?
As the weekend has progressed, it became increasingly more likely that the Brazilian Grand Prix would be wet. There was always a risk of the…
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