Written by Alrissa Mariam, Edited by Gabriel Tsui
For valid reasons, a lot of the F1 fans around the world thought the 2024 season would be boring, as it was expected that Red Bull would be dominating it once again.
That soon quickly changed when Carlos Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix, Lando Norris in Miami, Charles Leclerc in Monaco, George Russell in Austria, Lewis Hamilton in Silverstone, Oscar Piastri in Hungary and now Hamilton again in Belgium, not before Russell was disqualified from the race after seeming to have secured his third career win.
While Max Verstappen hasn’t won a race from the Red Bull Ring to Spa-Francorchamps, he still leads the championship by 78 points ahead of Norris, as the struggle between Norris and Verstappen has kept us on the edge of our seats throughout the first half of the season.
McLaren have been on a different level this year when compared to their performance last season. The team currently stands 42 points away from the lead in the Constructors Championship, a huge improvement compared to their fourth place last year, having finished the 2023 season with 302 points. Today as the first half of the 2024 season comes to a close, McLaren is firmly in the fight with a whopping 366 points.
How ready is Norris to take on the three-time World Champion for this season’s title?
In Miami, Norris took the lead after a Safety Car was deployed on Lap 29 after Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant collided. Norris managed to keep the lead after the restart and created a seven-second gap between himself and Verstappen, effectively securing his maiden win.
At Imola, Norris once again chased Verstappen for the lead, and they battled all the way to the finish line with just three-quarters of a second between the two drivers.
In Monaco, Verstappen started and finished the race sixth on the grid. It was a weekend where Ferrari showed domination with the McLarens in a four-car battle for the lead.
With a SC called for Sargeant's crash on lap 25, and Norris leading Verstappen by more than seven seconds, the Canadian Grand Prix was a little chaotic.
While those behind drove to the quicker safety-car delta time and eventually pitted, Norris stayed out and was picked up by the Safety Car. As a result, Norris emerged from the pits one lap later, third behind Verstappen and Russell.
In the Spanish Grand Prix, Norris was perfectly set up for victory after securing his first pole position of the season. Despite Norris squeezing Verstappen on the start, the Dutchman still got ahead in turn one. Both ended up on softs during the final stint but Norris ran out of laps to catch the Red Bull and finished just over two seconds behind.
The Austrian GP was a heartbreaking race for McLaren, as Norris briefly took the lead of the sprint race, only to lose it immediately after making a mistake heading down turn 4.
During the grand prix, Norris and Verstappen battled it out during the final stint that was completely at odds with the way the race had played out before.
Norris attacked on the outside heading into turn 3 of lap 64, and Verstappen moved over on Norris, with the light contact throwing the Red Bull’s left-rear tyre off the rim and the secondary clash giving both cars significant damage. Norris then returned to the pits and retired while Verstappen went on to finish the race in fifth place.
Silverstone was set in favour of the McLarens as they had done a splendid job overtaking the Mercedes at the front, building up their chances at a victorious one-two. However, that chance slipped away as the team opted against the double stack to avoid time loss for Oscar Piastri, who finished fourth.
Hungary was a frustrating one, while the McLaren drivers secured a front-row lockout for the first time since 2012, before a reversal of the positions sealed the team’s first 1-2 race finish since 2021, albeit with some drama on track.
During the final stint, McLaren had chosen to give Norris the advantage of pitting first, which meant he was leading the final laps. But Norris was asked repeatedly to let his teammate through and initially ignored the order before he was guilt-tripped over the radio. Eventually, Norris had slowed down with three laps to go, allowing Piastri to pass.
Recently in Belgium, Verstappen served a ten-place grid penalty after an engine swap, which meant he started in eleventh place and Norris was ahead in fourth. The British driver held his position ahead of the opening corner, but dipped his rear-left tyre into the grave on the exit which cost him through the drag on Eau Rouge and the Kemmel Straight.
Verstappen had managed to catch up to him, and the two battled it out for the position ahead of each. During the first pit stop, Norris left the pits six seconds behind the Dutchman and he did not have the pace to get past Verstappen.
So to answer the question; perhaps Norris is ready to fight and battle it to the end with Verstappen after McLaren has taken a huge step forward. But it will be a dog fight to the top step for the 2024 season, as we witness an exciting battle for the constructors as well.
When we return from the summer break, Norris and Verstappen will be throwing the kitchen sink at each other in the remaining ten races, fighting each other till the end for the World Drivers’ Championship.
Will it be a four-peat for Verstappen, or perhaps a first World Champion for Norris?
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