The 21st° stage of the season has been archived in Brazil, meaning there are only three races left in the world championship. Formula 1 will be looking to catch its breath for a week before preparing for the final triple-header of the year: Las Vegas, Qatar (where the final Sprint will be held) and Abu Dhabi.
McLaren, with Norris' double victory between Sprint and GP, can now approach the final phase by a certain margin in its favor. Lando will also know that if he can score 9 more points than Verstappen in Las Vegas, he will eliminate the Dutchman from the world title fight, turning it into an exclusive battle between him and Piastri.
It's all very well for McLaren, the dream is approaching, if it weren't for the fact that Max now has a significant advantage. The engine change at Interlagos makes Verstappen the favourite to win the final GPs of the world championship. McLaren will pay too big a power gap to fill it. The PUs fitted to Piastri and Norris' cars have covered too many km in comparison. To go back to when the Papaya team replaced the engines, you have to turn to the British and Belgian GPs. Two consecutive phases in which he unmarked the third and fourth engine units.
Power unit rotation can have a dramatic impact on the final part of the season
Great Britain accounted for exactly half of the world championship, so the fact that they arrived at Silverstone relying on the use of just two power units meant the team could finish the season by rotating the other two units they would unmark at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.
Red Bull's engine replacement in Brazil makes the season finale a real game of chess. While on the one hand, if Max were to win all the remaining stages, including the Sprint, Norris would only have to finish fifth to win the title (he would have to score at least another 34 points if Verstappen monopolized the triple challenge), on the other hand it is by no means a given that he will succeed.
If the Papayas decide to try to finish the year without ever receiving an engine replacement penalty, in addition to running the risk of not winning again until Abu Dhabi, they will also have to take the risk of losing an engine during a race and then find themselves having to serve a heavy grid penalty in the next event. Which could suddenly bring Max back into the race. Perhaps it would be more logical to mount a new unit in Las Vegas, where having fresh horses can certainly help on the long straights. This would open the door to a stage victory in Verstappen, but would then ensure a balanced fight in the final two events.
If we have any certainty, it's that Formula 1 can be really strange at times. The season finale will be a chess game, and the multiple Dutch champion cannot yet be completely excluded from the discussion.
Photo: Red Bull Racing
Read also in italian language: McLaren a nove punti dal sogno, ma Verstappen ha giocato un jolly importante in Brasile
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Brazilian GP 2025
