F1 | Norris still leader but not smiling: “We took a risk and we shouldn’t have!”
Lando Norris finished fourth in Qatar, benefiting only from a late error by Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and saw his lead over Max Verstappen shrink to 12 points. For Abu Dhabi, however, a podium finish will be enough for him to secure the first championship of his career.
Norris will head into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen and 16 over Oscar Piastri. In other words, the title is in his hands: a third-place finish with Max winning would be enough to crown him world champion.
Yet, the situation was far from straightforward. In Qatar, the McLaren MCL39s were among the favorites but ended up being beaten by the usual, unstoppable Max Verstappen. This time, the four-time world champion benefited perfectly from Red Bull’s strategy following the deployment of the safety car on lap 7.
At that point, Max Verstappen pitted while both McLarens stayed out. This decision was made to avoid splitting the strategies between Piastri, who was leading the race at the time, and Norris, who had moved into second after Verstappen’s stop. McLaren maintained this strategy consistently until the end, despite the increasing shadow cast by the Dutch driver.
The decision to stay out under the safety car did not pay off. Piastri lost the lead and finished second behind Verstappen. Lando Norris fared even worse, dropping to fifth and only benefiting from an unforced error by Andrea Kimi Antonelli on the penultimate lap to claim fourth place.
“It’s tough. We trusted the team to make the right call, but it’s always a gamble. In some ways, we took the risk ourselves, and now it’s clear we shouldn’t have, because Oscar lost the win and I lost second place,” Lando Norris explained.
“We didn’t execute well today, but many times we have. In fact, we secured the Constructors’ Championship 6 or 7 races ago thanks to good work from the team. Today didn’t go well, but that’s life.”
“We need to analyze the situation and understand what we could have done better. We already know why the decision wasn’t correct, but you can’t always get everything right. We need to do our jobs properly. If the team does theirs and we do ours, everything will be fine.” – the British driver concluded at the end of the race which was held at the 5.4-kilometre Lusail International Circuit, located just outside the city of Lusail, north of Doha.
Kimi Antonelli’s mistake could prove decisive in Abu Dhabi, as a podium finish will be enough for Lando Norris to secure the title. Yet in this final stretch of the season, where even the safest assumptions can be overturned, caution is necessary. Verstappen knows this well, having clawed back 108 points on Oscar Piastri since the summer. Lando Norris is fully aware that he cannot afford to sleep easy.
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