The F1 title battle was all but ended last Sunday, as Max Verstappen took arguably the greatest win of his career from 17th on the grid at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
With Lando Norris starting on pole after a dominant performance in qualifying and Verstappen way down the order after a combination of bad luck and engine penalties, this seemed like an opportunity Norris simply could not squander in his quest to overturn the points deficit in the championship.
An all-time classic race would play out, with Verstappen putting in an utterly flawless drive to climb to first place shortly after a mid-race red flag – from where he pulled out an astonishing lead of over 19 seconds.
Verstappen’s win – combined with Norris’ poor P6 finish – left the Dutchman 62 points ahead in the title battle with just three races left to play out. His fourth championship is all but secured, and the end of the season is set to be far more comfortable than it looked set to be just two weeks ago.
Questions have been asked of Norris and McLaren, who have arguably had the most consistently fast car over the course of the year, but have squandered major points on more than one occasion. The team’s management of intra-team battles was questioned in both Hungary and Italy, while Norris has slipped up on more than one occasion when a win was on the cards.
For many, the image of Verstappen passing Esteban Ocon for the lead in Sao Paulo as Norris slid off track to fall to P7 summed up the way this title “battle” has played out.
After the decisive play from the defending world champion in Brazil, Eddie Jordan issued a brutal assessment of Lando Norris’ chances of ever joining Verstappen in the F1 championship-winning circle.
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