A fourth consecutive F1 World Championship is all but a formality now for Max Verstappen.
This after the precocious Red Bull driver raced one of his more superb races this season, overcoming pre-race penalties and torrential rains to rule the Brazil Grand Prix at Interlagos. Verstappen won his eighth race this season in dominant fashion as he was nearly 20 seconds clear of second-placer Esteban Ocon and recorded the fastest lap 17 times.
Lando Norris, Verstappen’s closest pursuer for the overall title, finished a distant six to all but kissed goodbye to what would have been a potentially historic comeback.
F1 Title Within Reach Now for Verstappen
Verstappen’s fourth consecutive F1 World Championship appeared to be slipping for the Red Bull ace after a late-season swoon and Norris’ furious push down the stretch. This latest win all but guaranteed no epic collapse would happen, as Verstappen extended his once-shrinking lead to 62 with just 86 points up for grabs in the season-ending three-week tripleheader in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi.
In fact, Verstappen can clinch the title outright in Las Vegas if he finishes ahead of his rival. Norris, for his part, needs to be three points clear of the Dutchman after Vegas if he is to have a mathematical shot at Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Even in this case, a Verstappen collapse is still highly unlikely, as he could finish sixth in every race—the Qatar Grand Prix and its sprint and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix—and still win the title.
Verstappen has not done worse than sixth in any of his races this season.
In other words, it will take nothing short of a miracle of Biblical proportions for anyone not named Max Verstappen to win the F1 World Championship this season.
