Very fine margins are deciding Formula 1 races. Even over the course of a grand prix or sprint distance – think Lando Norris leaving the door ajar for Max Verstappen in the shorter Austria contest this year – a split-second call can make the difference.
Maybe this is why the drivers are so tetchy these days – George Russell’s understandable efforts to get Verstappen penalised after Qatar GP qualifying last weekend utterly enraged the Dutchman. Yet he emerged as the winner in the fifth nail-bitingly close direct contest against Norris this term.
It was another Verstappen performance peak the rest just don’t seem able to scale in 2024. But the main Qatar contest was also a reminder of just how much title potential Norris possesses.
He edged a team-mate as good and as fast as Oscar Piastri in both qualifying sessions on this rapid, technical track last weekend. That ended up being the critical difference for Piastri on Sunday, as he was left stuck behind Russell and later the again excellent Charles Leclerc. Norris, meanwhile, was right with Verstappen before Alex Albon’s mirror departing changed the race.
It can never be known if Norris’s near half-second pace advantage over the eventual winner in the closing laps on the hards would’ve worked out around what can be a struggle for Red Bull on harder compounds – at a time where the MCL38 lights up.
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Verstappen had no need to push to the end as hard as he did for the race’s first half, while he had also just started to increase his lead – Norris clipping the Turn 1 exit gravel a factor here – when the safety car was called.
The latest Verstappen versus Norris battle was denied an all-out race to conclude the contest in Qatar due to the McLaren driver’s penalty
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
The reason why the race for the win was ruined came down to Norris failing to lift when passing waved double yellow flags with Albon’s detached mirror littered on the Losail circuit’s main straight – but off the racing line.
His penalty was deserved and in keeping with previous precedents – such as the sanctions handed down to Nikita Mazepin and Nicholas Latifi for the same infraction at the end of the 2021 Austrian GP. True to form, Norris held his hands up commendably afterwards.
“I’ve let the team down,” he told reporters, his helmet only just having left his…
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