F1 in Texas: Well, now the championship is exciting again

On Sunday, like in the sprint, Verstappen was unchallenged into turn 1 and drove to the checkered flag without much drama. Norris probably had the speed to challenge him, but the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, which started the race on soft tires rather than mediums, used his grip advantage to pass Norris at the first turn. Within about four laps Leclerc’s tires had already given their best, allowing Verstappen to eke out a small lead.

What followed was a wonderfully exciting battle between Norris and Leclerc for second place. The drivers were on different strategies: Leclerc would switch to a medium after his soft tire, Norris would do the opposite. It took Norris a while to pass Leclerc the first time, with the McLaren driver trying the same cutback move at a number of corners without success before eventually succeeding.

But Leclerc stopped first, and when Norris made his tire change he yet again had to overtake Leclerc. This time Norris was much braver on the brakes into turn 12 to complete the move. Once in clean air, Norris was matching Verstappen’s speed, but the gap was too much to close down.

Verstappen’s win brings him to within 40 points of Piastri, with Norris just 14 points behind his teammate. And remember, there’s 25 points for a win—another non-finish for Piastri would be a disaster now. Should Verstappen manage to overtake both, he will have overcome the greatest points deficit in F1 history to do so.

History doesn’t repeat itself, but they do say it rhymes. And I’m hearing some of the same melodies as 2007, when dueling McLaren drivers took points off each other to allow Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari to win the driver’s championship—and also 1986, when dueling Williams drivers lost to the McLaren of Alain Prost. If 2025 becomes Verstappen’s fifth world championship, it should go down as his most accomplished.

And there’s not long to wait: the next round takes place next weekend in Mexico City.