While he could have been crowned world champion this Sunday, Lando Norris suffered from McLaren’s strategy during the Qatar GP. But a big mistake at the end of the race clearly changed the situation before Abu Dhabi.
It all happened in a few seconds. When Nico Hulkenberg made a mistake on the 8th lap of the Qatar Grand Prix, all the teams called their drivers back to the pits to take advantage of the safety car and benefit from a less costly stop. All the stables? Except McLaren, which left its cars on the track.
The rest of the Grand Prix did not prove Zak Brown’s men right, and Max Verstappen took the opportunity to pick up a victory which maintains the suspense in the title race. “ Oscar (Piastri) lost the victory and I lost second place. We didn’t do a good job today,
said Lando Norriswithout wanting to overwhelm his team.
We’ve done a lot of good things in other races, and we won the constructors’ championship six or seven races ago for that reason. »
The Briton could be crowned world champion this Sunday in the event of victory. He will therefore have to wait, and sees Piastri and Verstappen getting closer before the grand finale in Abu Dhabi. But another racing event, which went a little more unnoticed, could have a great influence.
Norris, two valuable points offered by Antonelli
Two laps from the finish, Norris recovered fourth place by taking advantage of Kimi Antonelli’s error, in a sequence which was not broadcast during the live broadcast. “J.“I entered turn 9 a little quickly, I lost the rear and went wide”, confided the Mercedes driver, sheepishly.
In the end, this mistake from Antonelli offers two more points to Norris, and allows the championship leader to be 12 lengths ahead of Verstappen, and not 10. Which means that, if the Dutchman wins in Abu Dhabi, a third place will be enough for Norris to be crowned world champion.
Unless there is a big problem for the McLarens, Verstappen will have to hope that two drivers come between him and Norris. In view of the last races, George Russell (Mercedes) is a credible candidate, but it is difficult to name another name to disrupt the game on a regular basis. And Piastri? In such a situation, we imagine that McLaren will (finally) pass a team order to secure the title.
