Norris must prove he has the nerve for a title fight

Max Verstappen has been untouchable since he emerged victorious from the titanic 2021 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship battle but, with six races remaining of the 2024 season, the Dutchman’s three-year stint as the top dog could be under threat.

While this season’s tussle is unlikely to live up to the standard set by Verstappen and Hamilton in 2021, to have even a hint of another champion being crowned is a welcome break for fans after Verstappen won 34 of 43 Grands Prix over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Not only is it a welcome relief, it is also an unexpected one given Verstappen was a 1-6 shot ante-post.

Red Bull started the campaign in typical fashion as Verstappen won four of the opening five races and looked, once again, utterly unstoppable. The writing was on the wall, or so we thought, and the flying Dutchman was 1-66 in late May.

The first hint at a reversal of fortunes had come that month in Miami as Lando Norris took his maiden win in Formula 1. That came the weekend after Red Bull confirmed the departure of legendary designer Adrian Newey and just months after Christian Horner was embroiled in a misconduct investigation.

Suddenly, Red Bull HQ did not seem like the promised land it once was.

The results took a short while to begin following a downward trajectory, but after victories in Emilia Romagna, Montreal, and Barcelona, Verstappen is now without a win in eight attempts.

For perspective’s sake, this time last year Verstappen had just had a record-breaking ten-race winning streak ended on the streets of Singapore. That was the only race Red Bull did not win in 2023. Now, he is in the midst of his longest winless run since 2020.

Despite that, and the fact that McLaren hold a definitive machinery advantage, Verstappen is still 8-13 favourite for the title and holds a 52-point lead over 11-8 shot Norris. That margin has been cut by only 16 points since Verstappen’s triumph in Catalonia.

That brings us to the uncomfortable topic of Norris, lauded as the next great driver hailing from the United Kingdom and touted to take on the mantle of the legendary Lewis Hamilton.

The bookmakers see him as Verstappen’s only viable contender this season - it’s 80-1 bar the front two in the market - but it has been far from a smooth ride for McLaren’s number one driver.

First, there was criticism of his race starts. Before converting his Singapore pole position last weekend, the 24-year-old Briton had started on pole seven times - including sprints - and been trailing by the end of the first lap on each occasion.

He has laid that unwanted record to rest but even his 21-second winning margin around the Marina Bay Street Circuit caused new doubts to surface.

Holding a 30-second lead at and under no pressure, Norris made three potentially race-ending mistakes, eventually prompting his race engineer to tell him to ‘chill out and bring the car home’ and drawing criticism from Nico Rosberg, who claimed he was "baffled" by the performance.

Norris has undeniable pace but whether he has the mentality to deal with the pressure of a title fight is a big question that we will find the answer to by the end of this season.

That does not seem to be a problem Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri struggles with. 

Despite being in just his second season in F1, the young Australian has shown pace, teamwork, and ice-cold composure behind the wheel. He is only 42 points behind his Bristolian teammate and seems to better cope with the pressure, even though Norris has four years more experience in the McLaren.

The 2024 World Drivers’ Championship is looking like a two-horse race but next year is shaping up to be a juicy affair from the off.

Click for more free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.