Formula One returns this weekend after a month-long autumn hiatus at the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Texas.
Despite having only hosted its first race in 2012, COTA marks a dose of traditionalism as “good old circuit” with its fast, sweeping corners and huge elevation changes in a championship that is increasingly looking to race through America’s most famous cities, with city races through Miami and Las Vegas already on the calendar and a further race at Chicago mooted,
After dominance under the lights at Singapore, Lando Norris comes into the weekend 52 points behind leader Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull driver still maintaining a healthy advantage despite having not won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June.
The Dutchman has won each of the last three races around COTA, so a visit to the Lone Star State may prove a welcome one as he bids to leave the McLaren driver needing snookers.
Further opportunity to eat into that lead presents itself this weekend for Norris as this weekend is one of F1’s six Sprint weekends, with the Brit needing to take an average of just under 9 points per weekend out of Verstappen in order to nick the Championship.
Red Bull are bringing a “significant” upgrade this weekend to try to rectify their win drought, the team having finally listened to concerns that second driver Sergio Perez raised about the car almost 18 months ago, as it tries to return to the front.
The Milton Keynes team have not been without controversy, as following talks with the FIA they have “agreed to make changes” to their car after the governing body was alerted to a device that could have allowed Red Bull drivers to change the ride height between qualifying and the race, which is not allowed as per Parc Ferme rules.
The team say that this has never been used and is inaccessible once the car is fully assembled, while the FIA stated there is no evidence of it having actually been used.
Meanwhile, Verstappen is still refusing to fully answer question in the FIA press conferences after Singapore’s Sweargate, instead holding his own unofficial press conferences.
While McLaren are the hunters in the Drivers’ Championship, they are very much the hunted in the Constructors’ Championship.
With Oscar Piastri pretty much matching teammate Norris since the start of the European season, McLaren have overturned what was a 115-point deficit after the Miami Grand Prix in May after six rounds, to an advantage of 41 points after 18 rounds.
In those 12 rounds, Perez has scored only 41 points with Verstappen and Norris having scored almost five times that total in the same period.
Indeed, Red Bull are closer to third placed Ferrari than to McLaren as it is now in the position of having to decide whether to abandon the Constructors’ Championship to focus solely on Verstappen’s title charge.
For that, even then they need the new upgrade to prove transformative and for Perez to return to form.