Formula 1: at what time and on which channel to follow the United States GP and the suspenseful duel between Verstappen and Norris

Le Britannique Lando Norris va jouer son va-tout lors des six derniers Grand Prix. imageBROKER.com – imageBROKER/Chris Putnam

Verstappen en mission rédemption aux États-Unis, la menace Norris dans le rétro. Le suspense est total en cette fin de saison. 

As the end of the season becomes increasingly uncertain, Formula 1 world championship leader Max Verstappen arrives in the United States with a mission: to contain his general rival, McLaren's Briton Lando Norris. After a break of almost a month, F1 resumes for a final marathon of six Grands Prix in eight weeks that begins Friday at the Circuit of the Americas, the scene of the 19th round of the season.

If Norris wants to take advantage of the sequence of events to gain the advantage over Verstappen in the quest for the Holy Grail – which would be his first F1 title –, the fiery Dutchman has not said his last word, despite the recent lack of performance of his Red Bull. “We have made some changes to the car to make it better suited to the (Circuit of the Americas), we will see if that will make us more competitive”, explained Verstappen, who had practically swept the board last year in Texas but who has not won a GP since the end of June – an eternity for him.

The team with the red bulls took advantage of the break to get back on its feet and should arrive in Texas with an improved single-seater. Although the developments have not yet been revealed, the main objective will be to reduce the gap with McLaren, which took the lead in the constructors' world championship in mid-September.

McLaren, the “two titles” in the viewfinder

Verstappen currently has a 52-point lead over his closest pursuer Norris (331 points against 279 points), while up to 34 points (against the usual 26) will be up for grabs this weekend, thanks to the third sprint (out of six) of the year, held on Saturday.

While “Mad Max” still maintains a comfortable lead, he is gradually seeing the McLaren driver, winner of the last GP, in Singapore, gradually come back. Enough to dislodge King Verstappen from his throne ? In the last four GPs, the Englishman has consistently finished ahead of his rival, but the latter has never fallen outrageously behind.

With a maximum of 180 points still to be distributed, Norris needs to score an average of nine points more per weekend than the reigning champion until the final GP in Abu Dhabi in early December to be crowned champion. “A lot of teams will be bringing updates to their cars in the final races, so we expect a tight contest", however anticipates Andrea Stella, the head of McLaren, which has become the leading force on the grid thanks to the consistency of its drivers Norris and the Australian Oscar Piastri.

“But as always […], we will focus on ourselves and we will try to score points in our quest for the two titles" – drivers and constructors –, he also said.

Ferrari, 3rd in the constructors' championship just 34 points behind Red Bull, will also arrive in Texas with a series of improvements to its SF-24. “We have to be in top form, because the leading teams are on equal terms and everything is still to play for in the championship”, recalled Scuderia boss Frédéric Vasseur.

Fourth overall, Mercedes hopes above all to have recovered during the break, after having experienced a “really painful evening” at the end of the Singapore GP, where the W15 proved to be “simply slow” by the admission of its director Toto Wolff.

Very high stakes

“We will bring our last improvements of the season to Texas”, the Austrian also explained at the start of the week, “to try to close the gap with the teams “head". Another team, another newcomer, at Racing Bulls, New Zealander Liam Lawson will compete in his first GP of the season, replacing the very popular Australian Daniel Ricciardo, thanked by Red Bull's sister team due to his lack of performance.

The 22-year-old driver, who made his remarkable debut in the elite in 2023 to replace the injured Ricciardo for five races, is emerging as a serious candidate to potentially take over the seat of Mexican Sergio Pérez, Verstappen's teammate at Red Bull. The stakes will therefore be high for the new teammate of the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda, also in the running to replace Pérez.

To be continued Sunday October 20 from 9pm on Canal + Sport.