Nothing that happens this Sunday in Interlagos (6pm, Dazn) will be definitive in the first three-way fight in Formula 1 with hybrid technology. But slippages do not penalize them if we take into account that the margin for correcting them is increasingly narrow. Max Verstappen knows this, the one who reaches the decisive stretch of the season the fastest, and Oscar Piastri too, involved in the disastrous dynamic from which his workshop neighbor Lando Norris emerged, with that veneer of stupendism this attracts some and repels others. Red Bull, normally Verstappen’s ally, this time made life difficult for him in Brazil, where the flying Dutchman left the man with his jaw dropped after being eliminated in the first qualifying phase (Q1), in which he finished 16th. On a very delicate asphalt due to the rain that caused havoc in the short race, the lack of grip tormented the energy team and their flagship, who went to their caravan looking crazy: “I don’t understand anything”.
It had been four years, since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, since the defending champion had seen one of these, although on that occasion he came out last due to a car breakdown. In fact, this is the third time since he wore the red Buffalo jumpsuit (2016) that he has been left out of Q2 for a reason unrelated to problems with his car. Norris, who in less than a month stopped being the pupae the big favorite for the title, will start from pole position, his sixth so far this season and his second in a row; while Piastri, who doesn’t put his foot on the ball, will be fourth. Fernando Alonso will be eleventh and Fernando Alonso, 15th.
Verstappen has the most complicated situation in mathematical terms. Emotionally, the most affected is the Australian, whose last victory dates back to the end of August, in Zandvoort, precisely where the frantic recovery of ‘Mad Max’ began. Since then, the multi-time champion has gone on a rampage: he has 121 points, with three wins out of a possible five; thanks to 90 points from Norris and 47 from the boy from Melbourne, the least fruitful of the top five in that period. In the penultimate sprint of the year, this Saturday, in Brazil, Piastri finished against the barriers and helped his teammate increase his margin at the top of the World Cup, who now has nine points in his favor. Verstappen is third, 39 points behind his friend and 30 behind driver Victoria.
Without knowing much about hunting or even pretending to know, it’s not difficult to imagine that any hunt requires a minimum of strategy if you don’t want to return home with an empty trailer. What Verstappen aspires to is not that, but rather to complete what would be the most brutal recovery in the history of Formula 1. Climbing into a Red Bull that spread its wings in Monza thanks to a revitalization that began with a new flat bottom, the current champion found himself in a favorable situation caused by the ‘fratricidal’ clash between Norris and Piastri. The two are still involved in a McLaren that started out as the best car on the grid before running into a difficult-to-interpret hole from the outside, from which Norris appears to have found a way out. Between one thing and another, the 104 points that two months ago separated the Dutchman from the leader (Piastri) were divided almost by three. This gives an average cut of 20.0 points per Grand Prix in this period, although the Hasselt driver finds it practically impossible to maintain this trend in Brazil, where last season he also started in 17th and managed to cross the finish line in second, in a recovery that is unlikely to be repeated.
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