Recently the biggest talk of Formula 1 has been who is going to win the championship. For the past two years, it has seemed like a foregone conclusion that Max Verstappen (Red Bull) will win by a landslide.
However, this year, Lando Norris (McLaren) has given Verstappen a run for his money. Unlike last year, Verstappen has not won the vast majority of the races. He has won eight of the races thus far, and he has been joined in the winner circle by many first-time winners. These other drivers are from different teams, which is why Red Bull has gone down in the constructors championship.
Similar to how Verstappen was expected to win by a long shot in previous years in the World Drivers Championship, McLaren is now expected to win in the constructors championship this year with Ferrari close behind.
The question is, will McLaren also be able to win the World Drivers Championship? Norris, while he has made considerable effort to get close to Verstappen in the points, has still not moved above Verstappen in the standings. It has now come to the point where Norris is the only driver left who has a chance at the championship win. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was recently announced as being out of championship contention along with his teammate, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).
Norris is still able to hold his own for now, but it is only a matter of time before the championship decision is actually made. The big question is, will the last race truly be a race for the championship? Or will Verstappen gain enough points in the race in Las Vegas to be able to win before the season is over? He has accomplished this in previous years, but his first championship win in 2021 was a race down to the wire with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
As an F1 fan, I am hoping that the race is down to the wire. It would be particularly special as it is my first season as a fan. Fingers crossed it’s interesting!
The “High-Octane Herald” is written by Ava O’Donnell and details the latest Formula One news regarding races and current events.