Lando Norris’ pace “going to have Red Bull scared” as crucial stat emerges

Max Verstappen will mathematically win the F1 title if he finishes as runner-up, behind Lando Norris, at every race for the rest of the season.

Verstappen has a 52-point lead at the summit of the championship despite Norris dominating the F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

But despite that stat, Norris looks likelier to win every race for the rest of the year than Verstappen does to remain directly behind him.

“More than the win, it was the performance and the speed today,” Nico Rosberg analysed on Sky Sports.

“That is going to have Red Bull scared.

“With this speed until the end of the year, it’s realistic that “Lando can win the remaining races.

“For Max to come second is so difficult.”

McLaren have proven that they now possess the fastest car in F1 after another dominant display.

Questions remain about whether they should have treated Norris as their No1 driver earlier in the season to boost his title hopes.

Rosberg disagrees: “It was too premature to compromise Oscar Piastri. He is still in the championship hunt, he can mathematically do it if things go his way.

“They will, at some point, apply team orders.”

Jamie Chadwick said about Piastri, who completed the podium in Singapore: “There is a fine line between him helping Lando, and him feeling like a No 2 driver.

“McLaren can’t afford to put him in that box and make him feel second-best to Lando, because he isn’t.”

McLaren CEO Zak Brown analysed the race: “A couple of close calls. Lando said to me in parc ferme ‘did you see that I hit the wall?’ I said ‘yes, a couple of times…’

“What an awesome drive. What an awesome race car that all the men and women at McLaren have put together.

“Oscar drove brilliantly so it’s been close to a perfect weekend.”

Brown said about McLaren’s newfound dominance over Red Bull: “Everything has come together. The development of the car has come together.

“We’ve got a lot of momentum but we know in this sport how quickly things can move.”