If someone had said McLaren would be challenging Red Bull by the end of 2023, not many people other than Mika Hakkinen would’ve placed their bets on it at the start of the season. Most would’ve laughed it off, calling it a statistical improbability. But following a miraculous turnaround by the Papaya squad, it’s now consistently Red Bull’s closest on-track competitor. Who would’ve placed their bets on Lando Norris challenging Max Verstappen for pole? Who would’ve believed he could challenge the Dutchman for a race win? Well, Max Verstappen sure didn’t after how the Brazilian GP Sprint played out.

For the past two weekends, Lando Norris came out of qualifying with a feeling of what could’ve been. In Mexico and Brazil, he could’ve gotten pole but missed out because of mistakes on his and McLaren’s part. But during the Sprint Shootout, he made amends, beating Verstappen to P1 for the Sprint. While he couldn’t hold off the three-time champion in the 24-lap dash, he carried that fighting spirit into Sunday, impressing many.

Norris caught Max Verstappen off guard but left everyone else impressed

After an underwhelming qualifying on Friday where Norris felt he should’ve gotten pole, he made amends on Lap 1, Turn 1 on Sunday. After starting sixth, he was up in second, going into Turn 2, closely following Verstappen, just not close enough. But he was once the race restarted on Lap 4 after a Red Flag. the young Brit was pushing to his limit, forcing Verstappen to defend (not something that’s happened this season). While the Dutchman eventually crossed the line eight seconds ahead of Norris in P2, he did get a few scares from the Brit following that restart.

In the post-race press conference, Verstappen was asked about the unexpected defending he had to do. He said, “He suddenly closed a lot. I didn’t expect him to have a run into Turn 1, but yeah, I had to use my battery a bit. And for one lap, into 1, into 4, I had to defend. And then I had to, of course, try and maintain that gap.” Even though he looked like he had everything under control from there, Norris was like this constant pressure on him throughout the race. This constant pressure, especially with the timing of Norris’ last pit stop, is what impressed former Ferrari General Manager, Peter Windsor.

In his post-race debrief on YouTube, Windsor said, “[The battle between Verstappen and Norris] was close. It was really, really close. All credit to McLaren, who had Red Bull panicking a little bit toward the end when Max came in for his second set of soft tires and Lando kept going. For a lap or two, Red Bull thought, ‘Wow, Lando Norris is going to go one stop. We’ll let Max know.’” Norris did come in a lap later, but for that one lap, Verstappen was evidently pushing to make up the 12-second gap between him and Norris in P1.

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In doing so, Verstappen went against what he said after his Sprint win on Saturday. But it all worked out for him in the end.

Max Verstappen doled out sage advice after the Saturday Sprint

After starting the Sprint in P2, Verstappen was ahead of Norris going into Turn 1. From there on, he just managed his tires and led the pack home. In his post-race debrief, Windsor also talked about how well the Red Bull driver managed his tires at the beginning of every stint. He kept Norris at bay while the Brit was pushing, and when the time came, he pushed and created a cushion. It’s what he did in the Sprint, and it’s what he did in the main race.

Even in the Sprint, there were times when it looked like Norris could get back past Verstappen. But because of how well the Dutchman managed his tires, he was able to use his tires when he needed to. In the post-Sprint press conference, he said, “For everyone out there, you can’t push flat out. I think we learned a lot during that race, and hopefully, we can do something similar tomorrow.” Considering how the Brazilian GP played out, Verstappen did precisely that.

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Do you think Lando Norris and McLaren can continue putting this pressure on Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the last couple of races?