Lando Norris: I hope Mercedes get a double disqualification in Las Vegas and forget to pit in Qatar

August 23, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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As the legendary British Formula 1 TV commentator Murray Walker once said “F1 is ‘if’ backwards”. While the grammatical details of this rhetorical flourish perhaps don’t stand up to close examination, the fact remains that Formula 1 is prone to unexpected outcomes.

This is what defending champion Lando Norris is relying upon since he now lies a distant fifth in the drivers’ standings ahead of the 11th round of the season, with 112 points to championship leader Kimi Antonelli’s 224. After 11 rounds last season, he was lying second to his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who had won five grands prix and claimed four other podium finishes, while four-time world champion Max Verstappen looked to be out of the picture.

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But Piastri then won just one other grand prix after Zandvoort as Norris moved into the lead, only for them both to be almost overtaken by Verstappen in the final rounds, where disastrous races in Las Vegas and Qatar meant the championship battle went down to the wire.

For that reason, the Briton isn’t counting himself out this season, though he knows the pattern of Mercedes dominance needs to be bent out of shape by a similar turn of events to those in 2025. Hence his somewhat flippant answer to a question about his championship chances after qualifying on pole position for the Dutch GP.

“Obviously, we were on the not-so-good end of it last year,” he said. “But there’s no point thinking about it.

“I honestly don’t care what I’m doing next weekend or the weekend after. It’s nice to know that it’s a possibility, and of course I’m hoping Mercedes get a double DSQ in Vegas like we did and decide not to box in Qatar for a free pitstop. So as long as they make the same mistakes, it’ll probably be just as easy.

“But yeah, every year is different. For me, we’re still trying to play catch-up with certain things, but I’m getting everything out of it for now, and that’s all I can be pleased about. So, I’m happy. It’s still a very long way to go.

“I’m optimistic, I still believe that it’s possible, and that’s all I need for now.”

Lando Norris, McLaren, George Russell, Mercedes

After Norris won last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, round 21 of 24, the champagne was practically on ice since he led by 390 points to Piastri’s 366, with Verstappen on 341. But McLaren then made very heavy weather of the following two rounds. Norris and Piastri finished second and fourth on the road in Las Vegas but were then disqualified for excessive plank wear on the underfloor of their cars.

At the next weekend, in Qatar, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli mandated a maximum limit of 25 laps for each set of tyres in the grand prix, to protect against the effect of damage from that circuit’s sharp kerb edges. Given the 57-lap duration of the race, this meant a minimum of two stops.

During the race, Piastri and Norris were running first and third when a safety car deployment on lap seven created a very obvious opportunity to make the first of these stops. Obvious, that is, to the majority of the field except McLaren, which left its drivers out.

Having to make two stops under green-flag conditions cost the McLarens track position and they finished second and fourth as Verstappen won, setting up a dramatic finale in Abu Dhabi when Norris should have put the championship beyond reach before leaving Qatar.

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