The fight for the Formula 1 drivers’ championship is all over bar the shouting.
Unless Max Verstappen suffers a series of bizarre misfortunes akin to Montgomery Burns’ all-star baseball team, his name will go on the trophy for the fourth year in a row.
But unlike last year, when Verstappen won all bar three of the 22 grands prix, he hasn’t had things all his own way. His latest victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix was his first for 10 rounds.
What makes it so unlikely Verstappen will let his shot at the title slip is he has been so effective at gathering the maximum points available when his car hasn’t been quick enough to win. There have been few occasions when Verstappen finished lower than his car looked capable of, and not once has his team mate Sergio Perez finished in front of him.
The same cannot be said of Verstappen’s closest championship rival, Lando Norris. The McLaren driver has had a breakthrough season, claiming his first three grand prix wins. But more often than not points have slipped through his fingers.
Sometimes he’s been plainly unlucky. On other occasions his team have slipped up. And Norris has squandered points through his own mistakes as well. But can any of these be singled out as the main reason why his championship bid is set to fail?
2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
Norris lost four points
Norris began the season by moving up one place from his grid spot to finish sixth. However he blamed an error on his qualifying lap for costing him a front row start. Given his rivals’ pace, a fourth-place start should have been possible from there, so this was four points lost on a day when Verstappen won – not that many were talking about Norris as a potential title contender at this stage.
2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Norris lost eight points
Oscar Piastri out-qualified and out-raced his team mate in Jeddah. This should have been a second consecutive fourth place finish for Norris, so eight points went missing here.
2024 Australian Grand Prix
Norris came in third behind the Ferraris after following Charles Leclerc in for his first pit stop. Although he felt McLaren should have brought him in even earlier to ‘undercut’ the Ferrari, it’s not a given this would have secured him second place.
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2024 Japanese Grand Prix
From third on the grid behind the Red Bull, Norris fell to fifth behind the Ferraris,…
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