After years of the sport being a proverbial “one trick pony” (Hamilton/Mercedes, then Verstappen/Red Bull), 2024 is a breakthrough year.
Lando Norris stormed to victory in the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix, beating home favorite Max Verstappen by over 22 seconds.
As Formula One ‘away’ victories go, this was as empathetic as it gets.
Norris’s victory margin of 22.8 seconds over Verstappen was the most significant gap between first and second place of the season, underlying both his and McLaren’s position as the driver and team to beat in Formula One. For a while now, it has been considered that a battle is truly on for the Constructors Championship between McLaren and Red Bull, but now people are asking if the fight for the Drivers’ Championship is also on.
After winning four of the opening five races of the season, it was assumed Max Verstappen would go on and cruise to a 4th consecutive World Title, much like he had done in 2022 and 2023. However, Verstappen has only won three of the following nine races since that victory in Japan. Since a significant McLaren upgrade at the 6th race of the season in Miami, in which Lando Norris claimed his maiden Formula One victory, McLaren has been the fastest car on average across all the following races.
With nine races remaining in the season, Norris trails Verstappen by 70 points in the Drivers Championship. This averages at less than eight points per race that Norris needs to gain on Verstappen, which crucially is the number of points he gained over him at the Dutch Grand Prix as Norris won the race and claimed the extra point for the fastest lap of the race.
What could also favor Lando Norris in his quest for one of the most unlikely Championship wins of all time is that it is not only a two-way fight for race victory between himself and Max Verstappen.
There have been seven race winners from four teams in the fourteen races this season. Eight of the fourteen races have seen three different Constructors on the podium, including at the Dutch Grand Prix, where Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three. This means it is possible that Verstappen could finish multiple places below Norris in some races, and if that happens, the number of points Lando gains over his rival will increase.
It must also be noted that the close battle for Formula One victory will likely hamper Norris just as much in his attempts to close down the 70-point deficit he has against Verstappen. Despite having the fastest car since the Miami Grand Prix in May, victory at Zandvoort was only Norris’s 2nd season victory as the race winner has often changed from race to race.
Norris became the 4th different winner from the last five Grand Prix with his win at the weekend. If this current trend continues, then the number of points Norris can gain on Verstappen will significantly decrease. For example, the margin between a 2nd and 3rd place finish is only three points compared to the seven points for 1st to 2nd.
Regardless of whether Lando Norris achieves what was seemingly impossible just nine races ago and goes on to claim the Driver’s World Championship or not, what is certain is that Formula One has its first genuine World Title fight since 2021.
After Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s dominance over the past two seasons–a period that many critics branded it dull–that alone is a major victory for Formula One. It now has its rightful place in the world’s major sporting headlines.
