The man of the moment
Lando Norris is currently ‘only’ fourth in the Drivers’ World Championship, 83 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli and 24 behind the Russell-Hamilton duo, who are chasing the young Mercedes talent tied in second place. Yet Norris, the reigning world champion, is the only non-Mercedes driver to have won more than one race this year and in the last six races, from Barcelona onwards, he has been the driver to score the most points in the championship. Once again, the updates introduced mid-season by McLaren have had an effect and the Englishman secured two consecutive wins around the summer break, first in Hungary and then at Zandvoort.
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“If we manage to improve in slow corners, I am confident I can win every race this season,” Norris himself said in a press conference after winning the Dutch GP. A demonstration of how the #1 has not yet given up on the idea of repeating the title won in 2025. The comeback, numbers in hand, would be less unlikely than the one nearly achieved by Max Verstappen last year, but it remains very difficult. For Norris, to be clear, winning all the remaining races from now until the end of the season – including the Singapore Sprint – might not be enough to be sure of becoming champion. If Antonelli always finished second, the title would still belong to the Italian by five points.
A ‘help’ from the other Englishmen
Added to this is the uncertainty about the actual number of races left in the World Championship: there would be 11, but if Qatar and Abu Dhabi were to be canceled and only Imola inserted into the calendar as a ‘replacement’, Norris would have ‘only’ 10 GPs to attempt the incredible comeback. To have any real chance, the McLaren champion would need the help – obviously ‘unintentional’ – of his compatriots Russell and Hamilton. Norris would not only need to consistently beat Antonelli in the upcoming races, but also to place as many cars as possible between himself and the Bolognese, preferably those of Russell and Hamilton since the McLaren #1 also needs to recover points on them.
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Of course, the situation could change if the Mercedes drivers were to encounter some other reliability issues, like those that already knocked out Russell in Canada and Antonelli in Barcelona; but it should be remembered that McLaren has so far been far from free of technical problems, quite the opposite. In short, if for Norris this comeback is not a ‘Mission Impossible’, it’s close.
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