Ferrari poses as the unexpected referee between Verstappen and Norris

Under the paraphernalia that every race in the United States entails, this weekend’s event in Austin (Texas) could be decisive for the future of the Formula 1 championship. With six events ahead, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen must exhaust their possibilities in each of the remaining circuits, since both propose different strategies.

Thus, the McLaren driver has to go on the attack and cut everything he can. What happens this Saturday in the sprint could be decisive, since the winner will take eight points which, given the closeness of the contest, could be decisive. Norris cannot afford not to cut as much as possible, since he is still 52 behind with Verstappen who is aware that he is reaching this final stretch with his tongue hanging out and a car that, unlike what happened at the beginning, of the year, no longer allows him to go with his elbow out of the window.

Both are aware that they must avoid failing and, above all, know how to use other competitors. Thus, Verstappen and Norris know that putting rivals in between can benefit them in their respective objectives. Whether in Austin, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Las Vegas, Sakhir or Yas Marina, the pawns will have as much say as the kings of the board. In this sense, both Mercedes and, in view of the initial result of the weekend, Ferrari can act as bishops or rooks in this game.

Until we see what happens in the sprint and the classification this Saturday night, which in Spain will be resolved after midnight, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are going to be in the fight. In some free practice sessions in which it was clear that the McLarens are there but do not want to show themselves and the Red Bulls are showing up but still have a long way to go, the man from Madrid and the Monegasque led with relative comfort, to the point of taking more than two tenths off a Verstappen who is known to be singled out for what happened in the hours prior to the dispute of the only free practice sessions of the weekend.

A circuit that does not forgive

The bumpy American circuit, which continues to be a nightmare for everyone due to the difficulty it entails (even despite the umpteenth resurfacing) made it clear that it does not forgive a mistake, and that anyone can end up in the gravel if they are not careful. Proof of this are the problems seen in Hamilton and Russell’s Mercedes, for example.

In this situation, Sainz and Leclerc took the best times hours before the sprint classification and, therefore, the first opportunity to add this weekend. Although all eyes are on the fight between the first two, both have mathematical options to be world champions (just like Piastri or the Mercedes men) and they want to exhaust them until the numbers work out. Especially in the case of Leclerc, who is ‘only’ 34 points behind Norris and 86 behind Verstappen. Difficult, and a lot, but not impossible.

The one who did not have major difficulties, but nor did he have spectacular luster, was Fernando Alonso. The innovations that Aston Martin has introduced here have given it greater reliability and although it did not enjoy much higher performance, it did appear to be more regular than in other previous tests. The Spaniard set the ninth time, half a second behind his compatriot Sainz, but was less than three tenths behind Verstappen. Closer, but still far away.

The Red Bull trap

All eyes this weekend are on the Red Bull box and not precisely because what they have brought is very positive. In fact, it is because technique has played tricks on them. In their search for the gray areas of the regulations, those from Milton Keynes introduced a mechanism to modify the height of the car in the middle of the race, something totally prohibited, and they have been hunted. Although they have admitted their guilt, they have also assured that they have never used it. something that, obviously, no one believes.

For this reason, the image of the federation’s technical managers verifying that this system exists and that it must be monitored has been widely commented on. To prevent it from being used, they have put a sealed seal so that, when it is activated, it will be broken. Like Red Bull’s dreams for 2024 that it seemed like they were going to conquer and that, in the end, could end up with them being disqualified.