Norris’ countback gives him a safe cushion in any normal race, had it been otherwise that Antonelli mistake could have been massive.
Cant see Pastri winning now, between Max and Norris. Mclaren need to use team orders now even if it upset Australians lol
Just realised that if it finishes Piastri-Verstappen-Norris in Abu Dhabi, which I don’t think is unrealistic - Monza’s Papaya rules incident will have decided the championship!
IMHO it’s too late for McLaren too start to introduce team orders . If they were going to do it , they should have done it before now . I think it’s the best way to go racing . As long as both drivers have a mathematical chance to win the WDC , then they are both free to race . It may end up being another 2007 , but that’s a chance they take .
I think my favourite spicy scenario is Max crosses the line to win in Abu Dhabi, and McLaren radio Piastri (running P2) telling him his championship is over and he needs to drop 3 places to P5 to allow Lando to pass him and take the crucial P4 he needs to secure the title.
I was thinking something similar but couldn't be bothered to do the maths Any driver wouldn't want to do it but a team winning the drivers championship seems to get more publicity than the team winning constructors. It would be a difficult ask but I think Oscar might do it - maybe a pre arranged financial inducement would sway him.
I would, 2nd is not winning, who cares about a 2nd place trophy when they have 1st place ones? as I'm not winning the WDC, best to not piss off my team.
I find myself almost wanting Max to win the title, which I never wanted to be the case. Mclaren have made such a mess of things I can see it happening. In any event, next week is going to be interesting and I am genuinely going to detach myself from supporting any of the contenders. Let the best man and machine win the championship. Max was a little naughty saying if rolls were reversed the championship would have been decided a while back, at Redbull he has always had the number 1 status.
I was thinking about it from the perspective of next year. Oscar should go up a level next year just based on experience, but if Norris wins, he might too and likely gains power within the team. Doing “a Rosberg” is basically a one off event in the modern era. You’re right that going against the team might be a bigger negative, but if I was Oscar this week, I’d be defending the position “it’s every man for himself, I won’t help Lando and you shouldn’t ask me to”.
I know what you mean, but I feel compelled to point out that nothing that happens next week is going to result the best man and the best machine winning. Depends what he means, by a while. It’s hard to believe Max wouldn’t have 15+ wins in that McLaren teamed with either Oscar or Lando and have wrapped up the championship with a few rounds to spare. It’s ended up closer than I expected and luck could go against him, but honestly it’s still hard to see how Lando fumbles it from here, as long as the car doesn’t let him down.
Much as I like Lando, I'm not sure he deserves to be World Champion yet. He still hasn't mastered not losing pole position on the start. He has had 7 pole position starts in 2025 but I'm not sure if he has held onto P1 after the first corner in more than 50% of the races - I can't seem to find stats so maybe I'm wrong. I think he has grown as a driver in 2025 but I'm not sure he's a World Champion just yet. That said I hope Max doesn't win as I'm not keen on some of his historic antics. I admire his skill, especially using the rules to his advantage as much as possible. Maybe it's just a bit weird that McL have allowed their drivers to race - it's been quite a few years since this really happened. Looking forward to the last race though.
Lando is more openly emotional than Oscar. If Lando hadn't crashed in Canada, which was a stupid display of emotion, he would be home and dry with the championship by now. He does need to sort out his starts. I note he doesn't seem to have a plan while some angle their cars in a premeditated direction rather than consider it after the launch. He clearly portrays a nicer character than some and is fast but needs to learn to be evil when the lights go out.
Norris would be WDC if he hadn't been taken out by his team mate, had an engine blow, or been DSQ for a mistake McLaren made. So not all his fault.
“Deserves” - I think is a word that stirs up an emotive response. If Norris wins by <6 points over Piastri, then I don’t think he deserves it because then Monza decided it and I don’t agree with what happened there. Outside of that you can only beat what is in front of you and in the end they’ve all had luck through the year. Piastri was unlucky in Australia, harshly treated in Brazil and Silverstone by the stewards and Papaya rules may have gone against him in Qatar, Singapore, Austria, Australia in addition to Monza. Norris had the engine blowout, and was taken out by his teammate, but also benefited from Papaya rules at Monza and Hungary, a suspension upgrade design to help him vs his teammate, was relatively lucky in Australia and that his Canadian accident was late enough in the race that he got a meaningless penalty rather than a grid drop at the next event. Verstappen got twatted by Antonelli in Austria, has the weaker car - despite the McLaren disqualification you’d rather have been in a McLaren this season, and has had the “misfortune” that McLaren’s weaker days have coincided with with Merc’s strongest, such that he’s not been able to take full advantage. Equally they’ve all had a catastrophic day, Spain (Verstappen), Baku (Piastri), Canada (Norris), where you can’t blame an external factor. Piastri has limited experience and is only in his third year - arguably he’s overachieved, Verstappen is fighting with at least one arm tied behind his back - he’s definitely overachieved. However championships ultimately are about the best car/driver combo and Piastri hasn’t had some huge luck deficit such that Norris has been handed the title. So if he wins by > 6 points over Piastri he deserves it, for the first one the “how” really doesn’t matter.
Having one of the fastest cars on the grid that's been specifically designed around your preferred driving style, contractual no.1 status and favourable stewarding decisions is 'driving with one arm tied behind your back'?
I wouldn’t characterise it that way. “One of the fastest” is irrelevant, it’s the gap to the fastest and how often it’s the fastest that’s important - he was at definite disadvantage in more than 70% of races. Whether it was designed for him is irrelevant, if it’s rarely resulted in him having a competitive advantage, if anything RedBull’s inability to provide a more usable, but similarly quick platform has meant his teammates haven’t been able to offer any help. Any contractual status advantage has netted him zero points this year - irrelevant. Not sure what favourable decisions you’re thinking of this year? I can’t think of anything other than a harsher punishment in Spain.
