As the end of the season becomes increasingly uncertain, Formula 1 world championship leader Max Verstappen arrives in the United States with a mission: to contain his rival in the general standings, British McLaren driver Lando Norris.

After a break of almost a month, F1 is back for a final marathon of six Grands Prix in eight weeks which starts on Friday at the Circuit of the Americas, the scene of the 19th round of the season.

If Norris wants to take advantage of the sequence to take the lead over Verstappen in the quest for the Grail – which would be his first F1 title – the fiery Dutchman has not said his last word, despite the recent lack of performance of his Red Bull.

“We’ve made some changes to the car to make it better suited to the Circuit [of the Americas], we’ll see if that makes us more competitive,” explained Verstappen, who almost swept the board last year in Texas but hasn’t won a GP since the end of June – an eternity for him.

The team with the red bulls took advantage of the break to get back on its feet and should arrive in Texas with an improved single-seater. Although the developments have not yet been revealed, the main objective will be to reduce the gap with McLaren, which moved to the top of the constructors’ world championship in mid-September.

McLaren, the “two titles” in sight
Verstappen currently has a 52-point lead over his closest pursuer Norris (331 points against 279 points), while up to 34 points (against the usual 26) will be up for grabs this weekend, thanks to the third sprint (out of six) of the year, run on Saturday.

If “Mad Max” still maintains a comfortable lead, he gradually sees the McLaren driver, winner of the last GP, return to Singapore . Enough to dislodge King Verstappen from his throne?

In the last four GPs, the Englishman has systematically finished ahead of his rival, but the latter has never let himself be outrageously distanced.

With a maximum of 180 points still to be distributed, Norris must score an average of nine more points per weekend than the reigning champion until the final GP, in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of December, to be crowned champion.

“A lot of teams will be bringing updates to their cars in the last races, so we expect a tight competition,” anticipates Andrea Stella, the head of McLaren, which has become the main force on the grid thanks to the consistency of its drivers Norris and the Australian Oscar Piastri.

“But as always […] we will focus on ourselves and try to score points in our quest for both titles” – drivers’ and constructors’ – he also said.

“Everything remains to be played out”
Ferrari, third in the constructors’ championship, just 34 points behind Red Bull, will also arrive in Texas with a series of improvements to its SF-24.

“We have to be in top form, because the leading teams are on equal terms and everything is still to play for in the championship,” recalled Scuderia boss Frédéric Vasseur.

Fourth overall, Mercedes hopes above all to have recovered during the break, after having experienced a “really painful evening” at the end of the Singapore GP, where the W15 was “simply slow” according to its director Toto Wolff.

“We will bring our last improvements of the season to Texas,” the Austrian also explained at the start of the week, “to try to close the gap with the leading teams.”

Another team, another newcomer, at Racing Bulls, the New Zealander Liam Lawson will compete in his first GP of the season, replacing the very popular Australian Daniel Ricciardo, thanked by the sister team of Red Bull due to his lack of performance.

The 22-year-old, who made his high-profile debut in the top flight in 2023 to replace the injured Ricciardo for five races, is emerging as a serious contender to potentially take over the seat from Mexican Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull.

The stakes will therefore be high for the new teammate of Japanese Yuki Tsunoda, also in the running to replace Pérez.