Analysis of the United States Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit
F1 – One of the many reasons why Formula 1 has more than 800 million fans worldwide is its unpredictability.
Just a few weeks ago, the fight for the Drivers’ championship was seen as a straight battle between the two McLaren drivers. Such was their superiority, McLaren had secured the Constructors’ title last weekend in Singapore and with a car which had been dominant for so long, it seemed a question of which side of the papaya garage would take the spoils.
Formula 1, however, doesn’t particularly care for a procession and its four-time championship winner Max Verstappen is not in the business of acting as an also-ran.
Cast your mind back to 1 September this year, just seven weeks ago. Max Verstappen was 104 points behind the championship leaders. He had just two wins from the first fifteen races, compared to 12 wins for the McLaren pair. The McLaren car was unrivaled across almost every facet, not least the stopwatch.
Fast-forward to today, the Dutchman has won three of the last four races, has rarely looked troubled at the front and now sits just 40 points off the lead.
That lead was cut following a dominant weekend for Verstappen on track in Austin. A win in the sprint race, pole position and an untroubled race win, coincided with a mixed weekend for McLaren. A first corner incident in the sprint race put both cars out of the race.
Later in the weekend, Piastri struggled in qualifying and could only manage a fifth-place finish in the main race. Meanwhile, Norris had to content with overtaking Leclerc twice in the race to finish second.
In the context of the championship, it’s perhaps no surprise that Verstappen was described on broadcast commentary over the weekend as the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park, in the famous scene where the dinosaur sneaks up to the Jeep which, in the case of this analogy, contains the two McLaren drivers.
Without doubt, he is hunting down this championship and even his body language seems to reflect that. There is a new confidence in his car that has come late in the season, and in his view – and undoubtedly the opinion in his garage – they still have a real chance.
Indeed, prior to this weekend in Austin, he has been consistently keen to avoid any conversation on the likelihood of another title this year, but his post-race interview this weekend showed a change of tone that he felt it is certainly possible, based on recent performances.
The obvious question is what has caused this dramatic change in fortunes? There are many theories swirling around the media on this point, but it is interesting to note that Red Bull still appear to be doing a lot of development work on the 2025 car. Most teams, especially at this stage in the season and with the new 2026 regulations coming in, have a strong focus on the development of next year’s car.
Often, this is at the expense of time and financial commitment to the current car, not least due to the cost cap restrictions. Taking the example of Singapore, Red Bull were only one of two teams to bring upgrades to that race and it is understood that the car’s front wing has been changed at least six times in recent races.
Then there is simply the Verstappen factor. That combination of raw talent and ambition never goes away and his ability to get the maximum from his car is no different from any of his championship winning seasons to date. There may be other factors at play, but the simple fact is that momentum sits with Red Bull and for whatever reason that matters in sport.
There are five races left this season, including two sprint races. That’s 141 points available for one driver, which suddenly makes that 40-point lead look fragile. Within that, you have two highly competitive drivers at McLaren, both with a laser focus on the title. After Austin, Norris is now just 14 points behind Piastri, but the momentum is with the Englishman. Norris has beaten Piastri in five of the last six races.
There are some who believe that McLaren should favour one driver and put all their efforts into that individual, to stop the Verstappen charge. McLaren are at pains to point out that their focus is to keep their efforts focused as a team and, as Andrea Stella said after Austin, “the results will look after themselves”.
Whichever way you look at this, it’s brilliant for the fans. We are set for a grandstand finish to the season and the next race in Mexico this weekend can’t come soon enough.
* Laurence Jones is senior manager, Marketing and Communications, Bahrain International Circuit
l.jones@bic.com.bh
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