Lando Norris reignited his Formula 1 title challenge after the summer break with a dominant victory over Max Verstappen at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Norris continued his rather worrying stat of always failing to convert pole position to a turn-one lead, but luckily for him, the sheer pace of the McLaren allowed him to repass Verstappen and dominate the race.
The McLaren driver finished the race 22.9 seconds ahead of Verstappen in second place, which is the largest winning margin we've seen since Charles Leclerc in Australia 2022.
The victory has put Norris 70 points behind Verstappen with nine races to go, however, Verstappen has still outscored Norris since the Spanish Grand Prix so the British driver will need to win races consistently to challenge for the title.
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The winner of a Grand Prix gets 25 points, with second receiving 18, third 15, fourth 12, and so on, with the driver with the fastest lap also earning a bonus point as long as the finish in the point scoring positions (1-10).
With all this considered, what does Norris need to do with nine races left if he is to take the crown of the reigning world champion?
If Norris wins all of the 9 remaining races with five fastest laps, as well as all of the sprints and Verstappen finishes P2 in all, Lando becomes world champion by 1 point.
While this may seem pretty unachievable for Norris considering his recent form, Verstappen has only managed to get on the podium in four of the last races meaning there are other ways Norris can chip away at the Dutchman's lead.
Following his victory in Zandvoort, the 24-year-old celebrated on the radio cheekily with the phrase 'simply lovely', which has long been the trademark saying of Verstappen.
With Monza up next McLaren and Norris will be praying they can execute another winning race, and if they do it might start to make Verstappen sweat a bit as he looks to earn his fourth consecutive title.
Topics: Formula 1, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, McLaren
Tom Jenkins