What you can’t do is offer your title rival the freedom of Texas and expect to win the closest prize in motorsports.
That’s what Lando Norris did at the United States Grand Prix. Max Verstappen does not need a second invitation. He’s an expert at driving his furious Red Bull through the eye of a needle with the force of a sledgehammer, let alone punching a hole that should never have been allowed.
This was always going to be the final stern test of Norris’ mettle, with him starting from pole and Verstappen alongside him on the grid.
He failed and finished fourth, despite harassing Verstappen during the exciting final exchanges. The Dutchman, with a slower car, drove like a god to defend third place. Norris was penalized for gaining an advantage by going off the track when overtaking Verstappen at Turn 12, four laps from the end. Hearts were in mouths.
The race was won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two. The result is that Norris drops 57 points, five more than at the beginning of the weekend, with five races left. Mathematics can only give you a headache.
Charles Leclerc won the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin on Sunday
Ferrari driver Leclerc crossed the finish line 8.562 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
Leclerc overtook Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in the first corner in Texas
Ferrari achieved a one-two finish as Carlos Sainz Jnr finished second behind teammate Leclerc.
Verstappen (right) and Norris (left) finished Sunday’s race third and fourth respectively.
Lewis Hamilton failed to finish the race after crashing during his third lap on Sunday.
Did it all come down to how they would fare up that steep road to the first bend, past the packed, sun-drenched crowds outside the impressive scene?
Norris, who has a history of shyness off the line, reacted quickly. His initial getaway was Bolt style. He dominated the track on the initial climb, but braked too early, allowing Verstappen to take the lead by the only route imaginable: to Norris’s left, on the inside.
Now, Verstappen is not known to be a shrinking violet. Nice out of the way, in it he would assault his grandmother. Norris, to put it mildly, could hardly ignore this side of his friend’s DNA. So there was no excuse for his caution.
However, Norris complained on the radio. “He clearly pushed me,” he protested too much. “He had no intention of making the corner. He also had to go off the track. I had to avoid crashing into him.
Zak Brown, Norris’s boss at McLaren, maintained that Verstappen had ‘bombed’ his man. He would do it.
But I fear that not even jingoism can hide the fact that Verstappen simply took advantage of a legitimate opportunity. The stewards did not even notice the incident.
By the second turn of the first of 56, Norris was back in fourth place.
Echoes of past races came to mind. Only on one occasion in which the Briton started from pole, in seven grands prix and one sprint, did he complete the first lap ahead. Conversion rate is not headline-winning material.
Leclerc has won eight grands prix during his Formula One career, including three in 2024.
Hamilton, pictured getting out of his car, retired early on an unforgettable day for the Englishman.
The Mercedes driven by Hamilton, 39, had to be removed by a recovery truck
After crashing his car, Hamilton was taken on the back of a small motorcycle in Austin.
Norris, it must be said, has driven very well this season, with speed and skill, but it is in the decisive moments in which he has blinked. In Saturday’s shortened race, he locked himself in to the death to drop from second to third place. Afterwards, he continued smiling. If Lews Hamilton had made the mistake, he would have been as cheerful as a morgue. These small and costly slips kill the spirit of the best.
Norris didn’t need the three weeks of inaction since the previous race in Singapore. His confidence was up there (he maintained his lead from pole) and he crushed all opponents.
Reminders of the mounting pressure at the climax of a close competition are all around him. Bricks are being thrown. No one uses the word “trap,” but the main protagonists mention the crime in code.
Red Bull didn’t like McLaren’s rear wing. Too much bending, they claimed. It has had to be modified, a change made before Singapore. Would you cut your progress here at a track where the previous setup would likely have conferred a performance advantage?
Maybe a little, but Norris’ brilliant late charge didn’t suggest much.
Leclerc pictured celebrating with his team after winning the United States Grand Prix on Sunday.
Monegasque driver Leclerc was visibly emotional after his impressive victory in Austin.
The tit-for-tat then saw McLaren imply that Red Bull regularly altered its ride height between qualifying and the race in strict breach of conditions. “Paranoia and moaning,” Christian Horner responded.
His McLaren counterpart Brown responded by calling on Red Bull to prove they are as white as they claim by signing affidavits denying any fiddling inside their parked cars.
Horner and Brown went filming together in friendlier times. Now, I wouldn’t allow them to get close to weapons that are within firing range of each other.
It was also a weekend for the last Briton to win the world title, Hamilton.
He has won here a record five times in Austin, and six in total in the United States, the place he now counts as his home. But he started the sprint seventh, finished sixth, qualified 19th and then was the first man back in the paddock, with his car in the gravel. “Sorry, guys,” he said.
