Max Verstappen bossed the Las Vegas strip with a commanding win over his title rivals

McLaren’s Norris and Oscar Piastri are slipping backwards in the title race at an alarming pace. Norris botched up a well-earned pole position, which he won on pure merit earlier on Saturday, even though qualifying was not straightforward.

The young Englishman who heads the leaderboard by 24 points from his young Aussie teammate veered straight in front of Verstappen’s Red Bull as soon as the lights went off. This was not characteristic of Norris, and just when the aggressive move woke the watching world up, he out-braked himself and went wide through Turn 1, losing two places in the bargain!

Max Verstappen triumphed over the Las Vegas strip and post-race, Lady Luck shone on him!

It seemed that McLaren would continue their poor form around the bright lights of Vegas, finishing off the podium again. But Norris fought back, and so did Piastri after falling back a few more places from where he started. When McLaren’s Team Chief was asked if he thought Lando Norris was reacting to Verstappen’s formation lap gamesmanship, he answered, “We don’t know if that was an influence or not. He was trying to defend the position, but I think on the inside, he found much less grip than he anticipated. It’s racing. We lost the position.”

From the Dutch defending champion’s perspective, however, that was not the only gift for the evening! Max Verstappen’s innate ability to grab victory from the jaws of defeat has kept him in the hunt for a fifth consecutive world driver’s championship this season, although the McLaren MCL39 is a superior machine. He held on to the lead he inherited after Norris threw it away, and post-race inched closer to his papaya-coloured rivals in the points standings when both McLarens were sensationally disqualified!

The FIA confirmed that “the rearmost skid wear on both McLaren MCL39 machines was found to be below the minimum 9mm thickness by technical delegates on inspection.” That was Verstappen’s second stroke of luck for the evening. What that now means is, he is equal on points with Oscar Piastri and just 24 behind the leader Norris. There’s a maximum of 58 points left on the table to be won in the final two rounds!

And this Sunday, expect the Red Bull ace to go all out again, as he returns to Losail for the Qatar Grand Prix. A race he dominated last year, but this time it’s a three-way fight!

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