Damage limitation from Verstappen at home race
A champion shows his truth worth when things get difficult and Max Verstappen demonstrated that once again this weekend. In his home race, in front of a crowd that never stopped cheering him on and motivating him, Max clearly didn't have the tools to challenge McLaren. That was already clear to see yesterday in qualifying, when he was over three tenths slower than pole sitter Lando Norris, even if he outpaced the Woking-based team's other driver, Oscar Piastri. And it was even more obvious in the race. When the lights went out, Lando once again appeared to suffer from an inability to get off the line promptly, which meant Max took the lead and kept it for 17 laps. However, once Norris had reaffirmed his superiority, Verstappen managed his race, taking home the 18 points for second place, giving away just eight to the McLaren driver, who also picked up the additional point for setting the fastest race lap right at the very end.
Of course, Verstappen would have wanted to celebrate his 200th Formula 1 Grand Prix participation with a win, to end a run of five races without one. In fact, not since 2020 has Max been absent from the top step of the podium for such a long time. But at least he succeeded in making a virtue of necessity.
Verstappen still has a 70 point lead over Norris in the Drivers' standings, with nine Grands Prix to go, three of them running to the Sprint format, which means there are still 258 points up for grabs. Norris must close the gap by an average of over eight points per weekend, which is far from easy, but not impossible given the current strength of the McLaren package. Their respective team-mates can play a vital role and here's where Norris might have the edge, as Piastri has so far been able to score 40 more points than Perez. Ferrari drivers Sainz and Leclerc and the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and Russell could also influence the outcome, as these four teams have picked up 90.7% of the points awarded so far this season – 1484 out of a possible 1636.
That's why today's 18 points are so important for Verstappen and even if he didn't look particularly delighted on the podium, he certainly knows what they are worth. The situation in the Constructors' classification is much more evenly matched with Red Bull leading McLaren by just 30 points and Ferrari by 34. Come next Sunday night in Monza, that order might already have changed.
