McLaren fans will tell you that Lando Norris was robbed of his podium place in Austin by a particularly harsh ruling on track limits, whilst Verstappen followers would see the McLaren driver’s penalty in the closing stages of the race as suitable punishment for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Whilst that debate will no doubt rumble on for some time, the reality of the matter is that the rules in this area are very technical and requires a team of experienced stewards to evaluate the incident with vast numbers of camera angles and other available data. Irrespective of all of that, the reality of the situation remains that the Dutchman is on his way to the next race in Mexico with his lead in the championship increased to 57 points over Lando Norris.
Whilst the incident at the end of the race took all the headlines, the entire weekend of racing was full of surprises and changes in form, not least because with the four week break prior to the race, pretty much every team had brought major upgrade packages to their cars to this race weekend.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the form of the two Ferraris, completing a hugely dominant first and second in the main race. For context, this was only the third time that Ferrari have achieved a one-two in the last ten years.
The Scuderia was keen to note that they felt most strong at races where tyre degradation was a significant factor, which would help explain their dominance in the main race at Austin and also why that performance was not quite matched in the previous day’s sprint race where they could only manage second and fourth. What was obvious, however, is that Ferrari now seem to be McLaren’s main threat in the constructors’ championship.
They have clawed back to within just eight points of Red Bull in second place and given their current vein of form, it seems likely they will become the main challengers to McLaren for the rest of the season.
As McLaren themselves have shown, one of the keys for success in the constructors’ championship is consistency of performance across both cars. Ferrari clearly now have that, not least as Carlos Sainz will want to prove a few points before his departure to Williams next season. On the other hand, Red Bull will be less confident of such consistency across both cars.
Sergio Perez’s recent struggles at Red Bull are well documented and you would feel he needs a change of fortunes for their title bid to be resurrected. Following last year’s retirement in his home race, his return to Mexico this weekend could be his chance to reinvigorate his and Red Bull’s chances.
Back in the world of the Drivers’ Championship, there are still five races for Lando Norris to make up that difference to Verstappen, but one feels that he can no longer afford any mistakes, even minor ones.
After the race on Sunday, he admitted that he made an error going into turn one of the first lap, leaving him fourth after a solid getaway at lights out. This was after a qualifying lap that he considered to be the best of his career. More of the latter and none of the former can be the only way to close that gap. Even with a faultless display from Norris for the rest of the season, the maths will tell you that he will require more than that to end the season on top.
Red Bull, on the other hand, will be feeling more confident in their prospects having brought a noticeably improved car to Austin, with a series of upgrades that gave Verstappen a comfortable win in the sprint race. Time will tell whether those improvements can be replicated at the reminder of the races this year.
Finally, the Austin Grand Prix was also another excellent advertisement for the merits of the sprint format. Indeed, the 19 laps on Saturday, with plenty of track action, would have been exactly what F1 had in mind when the idea was conceived. In addition, you didn’t get the sense that the sprint race took anything away from the main event, such were the differences between the two races. It was a real treat for fans throughout the weekend.
- Laurence Jones is senior manager, Marketing and Communications, Bahrain International Circuit
l.jones@bic.com.bh
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