Max Verstappen can cap a late night in Las Vegas with his fourth consecutive Formula 1 world championship.
Verstappen enters the Las Vegas Grand Prix (1 a.m. ET Sunday, ESPN) with a 62-point lead over Lando Norris thanks to a victory in the São Paulo Grand Prix. Norris started on the pole in that race but quickly lost the lead as Verstappen drove through the field for a convincing win over Alpine teammates Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
The three-time champion added 15 points to his lead over Norris after Norris finished sixth in the Grand Prix the day after winning the sprint. Norris had gained three points on Verstappen in the sprint race, but lost 18 points in the Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s dominant Grand Prix performance in Brazil means he simply needs to keep Norris in his rear-view mirror in Las Vegas to clinch the title. With two Grand Prix races and one sprint race remaining after this weekend’s race, there are only a maximum of 60 points available.
That means Verstappen can clinch the title in any number of ways in Vegas. If he finishes ahead of Norris and both drivers score points, he’s the champion. If neither driver scores points, Verstappen is the champion. And even if Norris finishes as high as fourth without scoring the fastest lap of the race, Verstappen is still the champion if he finishes one spot behind him.
Yeah, this title race is over. Though it’s at least been better than the previous two championship battles have been.
Verstappen clinched the 2022 title with four races to go. A season ago, he clinched it with five races remaining as he won 19 of the season’s 2022 races. That remarkable feat included 17 wins across the last 18 races of the season as Carlos Sainz’s win in Singapore was the only victory for a non-Red Bull driver all season long.
There’s been more parity this season. Seven drivers across four teams have won races this season, and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez isn’t among that group. Before his win in Brazil, Verstappen hadn’t won since the Spanish Grand Prix on June 23.
That summer swoon of sorts allowed Norris to get into the title mix. Norris took two wins during Verstappen’s run of 10 races without a victory, though there’s a serious argument to be made that he should have scored more victories as Verstappen kept missing out on victory lane. Bad starts have plagued Norris all season long, and McLaren had him move over for Oscar Piastri in Hungary in July.
Verstappen, meanwhile, kept scoring decent finishes in a car that isn’t nearly as dominant as it was the past two seasons. Verstappen never finished lower than sixth in those 10 races without a win as Perez has been out to pasture. In that same stretch, Perez’s best finish was one sixth and he finished outside of the points three times.
If Verstappen had struggled like Perez, perhaps Norris would have a real shot at his first title. Instead, Verstappen’s ability to wring solid results out of a car that has been outpaced by both Ferrari and McLaren at various points is why he’s about to be the fifth driver in F1 history with at least four consecutive titles.