ABU DHABI: Lando Norris is the Formula 1 title favorite ahead of a three-way decider in Abu Dhabi — which also means he has the most to lose.
He and teammate Oscar Piastri are each looking to win their first title, but Norris saw his comfortable 24-point lead entering last week’s Qatar Grand Prix whittled down to 12 by the end of it as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen surged back into the fight.
“Of course, I have the most to lose because I am the one at the top,” Norris said Thursday. “I’ll do my best to stay there till the end of the year, a few more days. At the same time, if it doesn’t go my way, then I’ll try again next year. It’ll hurt probably for a little while, but that’s life.”
Norris fastest — but not by much
The only way Norris can lose the title is if he finishes Sunday’s race outside the top three. His pace in Friday’s first practice session suggested that’s unlikely as was fastest ahead of Verstappen, though only by .008 of a second. Charles Leclerc was third, 0.016 off the pace for Ferrari.
Still, the session wasn’t a reliable guide to race pace. It was held in daytime, not under lights, and only 11 of the 20 regular drivers took part. Piastri was among those to give up his car as teams pushed to meet a rule requiring them to field young or inexperienced drivers in a certain number of practice sessions each year.
Norris has denied he’ll ask Piastri to help out to at least ensure one McLaren driver becomes champion if it seems Verstappen will take the title.
Verstappen’s chances were revived when McLaren botched a strategy call in Qatar, one race after Norris and Piastri were disqualified in Las Vegas.
Relaxed Verstappen
The one contender who’s been in a final-race decider before, Verstappen said he’s “just enjoying being here” in a season where his title defense often seemed impossible.
“I have four of those at home, so it’s nice to add a fifth,” he said Thursday, looking at the trophy standing next to him.
“I’ve already achieved everything that I wanted to achieve in F1 and everything is just a bonus. I just keep doing it because I love it and I enjoy it and that’s also how I go into this weekend. Have a good time out there, try to maximize the result.”
Verstappen was 104 points off the lead at one stage, and wrote his chances off again when he wasn’t competitive in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, three races ago.
Piastri clings on
Piastri had a 34-point lead in August and seemed on target to become the first Australian champion in 45 years. He hasn’t won in eight races since.
With only a slim shot at the title, Piastri could face the dilemma of whether to sacrifice his own bid for Norris. “I don’t really have an answer until I know what’s expected of me,” he said.
Piastri showed good pace to take second spot in Qatar last week, though he was left “speechless” after a race dominated by McLaren’s wrong strategy call.
“Obviously, I need a fair few things to happen this weekend to come out champion,” he said, “but I’ll just make sure I’m in the right place at the right time and see what happens.”