Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen enters Saturday's Las Vegas Grand Prix on the verge of clinching his fourth consecutive Formula 1 world championship.
There are various scenarios that will land Verstappen his fourth title on Saturday night, the most basic of which is him simply finishing ahead of Lando Norris at the race's conclusion. Verstappen can still finish behind Norris in the race and clinch the championship however, as Norris would need to outscore Verstappen by at least three points to keep his hopes alive.
Prior to the Miami Grand Prix in May, it would have seemed like a fever dream that another driver would be competing with Verstappen for the title this late in the season. Despite McLaren having the best car since Red Bull engineer Adrian Newey departed four days prior to the Miami GP, Norris felt he wasn't fully prepared for a championship battle of this magnitude.
"I probably wasn't outright ready to go up against Red Bull and Max," Norris said. "I think I am now, and it's probably too late (for that). ... Maybe there are other drivers in the past that were ready for such an occasion. But no one has gone up against Max so early in their career, halfway through the season, and put up, I think, a pretty reasonable fight.
"I mean, I'm there, but there's no one else doing it, you know? So I've done my best. I've not done well enough. I've always admitted that. I think Max is probably one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1. I don't think you'll get a much better driver than Max in Formula 1 ever again."
Saturday's foray in Vegas will also be the penultimate race for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, as the sport's most popular driver heads to the legendary Ferrari outfit to partner with Charles Leclerc next season.
Hamilton had a fiery response to Mercedes' principal Toto Wolff's comment that "everyone has a shelf life" in regards to Hamilton's exit to Ferrari potentially being a positive for Mercedes.
"Honestly I feel like I'm in the best place I've been all year mentally and considering how bad the last race was," Hamilton said. "I think that says enough. Nothing can take me down. I'm still here, I'm still fighting and I'm going to continue to push. I've got a team that I generally still love, even though I'm leaving and I want to make sure to give them the best I can in these next races."
Hamilton drove with the same fire in Thursday's free practice, finishing first in both sessions. To sweeten the deal for Mercedes, Russell finished second to Hamilton in the first practice session and third behind Hamilton and Norris in the second session. Norris' second place finish in FP2 capped off a relatively successful day for the Brit as he also finished third behind Russell in FP1.
It wasn't as good of an evening for Verstappen, who finished fifth in FP1 before tire issues forced him to a P17 finish in FP2. Sergio Perez provided little encouragement for Red Bull either, finishing behind Verstappen at 19th in the second practice session.