Sorry It's late. 50 laps of the 6.201km Las Vegas Strip 21st November Practice 1 00:30 - 01:30 21st November Practice 2 04:00 - 05:00 22nd November Practice 3 00:30 - 01:30 22nd November Qualifying 04:00 - 05:00 6th November Race 04:00 - 06:00 All times are UK times Poll closes before Quali.
Weird Friday with manhole problems at the track again It maybe isn’t going to make for the most exciting finalé, but Norris does seem to be going out and winning it at the end of the season, which would be a more satisfying result than if he’d had a wobble, let Piastri back in and then one of them had limped over the line.
If my maths is correct ( never a guarantee ). If Max wins and both Lando and Oscar finish out of the points , then going into Qatar the championship would be , lando - 290 Oscar - 266 Max - 266 Lando would be 24 points in front with 2 races to go . Now I NEVER EVER EVER EVER , thought I would say this , but for the good of the WDC , I want this result , and I will worry about the last race later …
Honestly, I don’t think it would make any difference, I expect McLaren to be dominant at Qatar, it’s why I never thought Verstappen had a chance of the Championship. The best result for some excitement is probably an Oscar win and a Lando failure to score (looks unlikely from both perspectives). Weird to see it raining in Vegas, sounds like tomorrow will be dry and cool, so it will be interesting to see if teams compromised their cars differently for today. The McLaren looked really under control (at least during the Norris onboards), but maybe that’s just a sign of how good it is. Weirdly Hamilton’s grid spot could work out well for him, a pitlane start, a new PU and an optimal setup + likely safety cars is the perfect mix to score big.
This reminded me that I’d said Antonelli was a reasonable outlier for this race. Obviously it’s a terrible shout after today, but I guess I’ll have to stick with it and hope for carnage!
I have a lot of respect for Verstappen and his skill but I don't like him. Out of the two Mclaren drivers, Lando is portrayed in a different light than Oscar, presumably because I am watching the UK broadcast. We see shots of Lando's family and his perceived emotional ups and downs. Here in the UK we are sold the Lando image, not the Oscar image. I assume there is a different coverage in Australia that sells the Oscar image. If we saw that how would we perceive the two Mclaren drivers? I wonder. You sort of feel that Oscar has gone into a low point in his thinking but I hope he is planning an overthrow of his team mate, much as I am supporting Lando. I hope it comes down to the last lap of the last race with a nail biting shoot out between Oscar and Lando. If Lando turns this pole into a victory he will have the same number of wins as Oscar this season. If there is a tie in both points and F1 wins, do they then look at sprint wins before looking at the number of second places? Lando having many more second places than Oscar in the main races. Lando has more sprint wins too but that may tie in the end too.
Sorry, but I think it'll be a dead rubber, Norris is on fire, Piastri is falling apart and Max doesn't quite have the car.
I suspect you are right too, tonight's race will be an indicator as to how tight it might be. If Lando makes the win tonight I don't see him being stopped although theoretically possible.
To break a tie, I believe they look at the GP races and the 2nd, 3rd countback etc. We should remember that at the start of this year, Lando would/should have been a clear favourite - Oscar is only in his 3rd year of F1. Lando’s fairly honest and open, which I think contributed to the narrative around his struggles, but also the fact that at the start of the year Oscar was performing better, especially considering he shipped a lot of points to Norris in the first race and had the pressure of having to come back. Ultimately if the current trend continues, the story of this year will be that both drivers had a bit of an up and down year, but ultimately Norris was much better in the run in which made the difference. If you’re an Oscar supporter looking to spin it, you’ll maybe say that McLaren changed the car to suit Lando, that Lando got the better end of Papaya rules and Oscar is far less experienced, so it’s a good first crack at the title and he should have much more experience if McLaren are strong again next year. Personally, I don’t believe McLaren have manipulated the result, but it’s undeniable that a Norris win is easier for them to manage. If the pre summer break performance trend had continued. Oscar would have won quite handily, and I think it would have been quite hard to rebuild Lando, if he’d lost in that way. With a Lando win, once the dust has settled, both will have reasons to look back on the year positively and to believe that next year will be better for them.
