Red Bull and Max Verstappen sealed their dominance at the Brazilian GP after surpassing Ascari’s record of 75% win percentage achieved when he won six of the eight races in 1952 and now has the guarantee of finishing the year with a victory percentage above that irrespective of what happens in the remainder of the races in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. However, a threat is emerging steadily in the form of Mclaren and Lando Norris, and the Brazilian GP was just the beginning of a rivalry many have been anticipating for years.

Ever since the Dutch GP upgrades, the MCL60 has been a formidable force, consistently challenging the front runners. The Papaya Army seems to have a race-winning pace ever since the Qatar GP, and Lando Norris solidified Mclaren’s challenge to Red Bull’s throne after a mega drive at the Brazilian GP where he kept within touching distance of Max throughout the weekend.

The Brazilian GP turned out to be more than Max Verstappen bargained for

When the five lights disappeared at Interlagos, the battle was on between Lando Norris, who started sixth, and pole-sitter Max Verstappen. The Briton launched a heroic campaign on his soft tires, ditching tire management woes. Unfortunately, Verstappen just had too much of an advantage in the middle sector, dropping Norris steadily. But the dive from Norris into turn two as a last-ditch effort was enough to concern Verstappen.

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When the Dutch Lion was asked in the FIA post-race press conference about how his race unfolded, Verstappen was quite satisfied with the result but reflected on the challenge from Lando Norris, “Maybe it looks fully easy from the outside, but I think for most of every stint you know Lando was matching my lap times. It was always like the last 5-10 laps where it seemed like then, of course, we had better tire deg.” 

While the entire field fell victim to tire degradation, especially Lewis Hamilton, Verstappen, and Norris were seemingly unfazed throughout the race, successfully managing their tires. Unfortunately for Norris, this is where Verstappen and the RB19 had the edge. While the Dutchman is used to outclassing the grid and going on side missions to hunt down the fastest lap, the MCL60 kept him on his toes.

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“But yeah, the beginning of every stint I definitely had to focus a lot and that I couldn’t afford to, you know, make mistakes and around here with the high deg as well, it’s not the easiest to drive.” Verstappen won for the second time at the Interlagos after outclassing Lando Norris, but even he was vocal about how technically challenging the track can be.

Verstappen is shocked by Mclaren’s resurgence

It was not an easy battle by any means for the Dutchman, but like always, the Brazilian GP delivered some heart-stopping moments. Not just for Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, but also for Max Verstappen. The Dutchman was on his toes throughout Norris’ charge, “It’s not like you can relax and just let the car just roll into the corners without any consequence.”, Verstappen shared.

At the start of the season, McLaren was looking rough! But no one expected the complete 180 that the Woking outfit has performed, leapfrogging them towards Red Bull’s pace. Verstappen felt the danger from behind, “He suddenly closed a lot, I didn’t expect him to have a run into turn one, but yeah I had to use my battery a bit, and for one lap. Well into one and into four I had to defend and of course, try and maintain that gap.”

But there was still one area, the RB19, that trumped the MCL60 in – tire management. Verstappen concluded, “But I think it was also very important at that stage of the stint to really look after the tires you know, to make sure you have a good lap to pit.”  

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Although Verstappen and Norris were running similar lap times throughout the race, McLaren still had some final polishing to do. But with how quickly they have progressed, keep your eyes peeled for the Papaya Squad when we arrive at the season opener!