Max Verstappen is all set to win his third championship, and the sheer dominance he has shown through races makes the fans believe that there will be no obstacles in his path that can stop him from remaining victorious throughout the six races left in the 2023 season.
F1 presenter Tom Clarkson has some different opinions about the very same situation, though, and he thinks that McLaren will be able to snatch away victory from the jaws of the Red Bull driver with their recent upgrades. McLaren took a double podium in the Japanese GP and also managed to fight Max Verstappen for the lead of the race for some moments at the start of the race.
Tom Clarkson anticipates surprising Lando Norris victory over Max Verstappen
Tom Clarkson was hosting the F1 nation podcast when he started talking about a driver who could potentially upset Max Verstappen’s weekend in Qatar and cause him to walk away without a race win.
“I feel that Lando Norris is due his first win in Formula 1. And if that car is as good as we think it’s going to be, a little bit of misfortune maybe? Remember, we had those four punctures two years ago, just a little bit of misfortune for Max and Norris is in there. So I’m going to go a Norris victory this weekend.”
“Closely pursued by his team-mate Oscar Piastri and then I think Checo Perez is going to have dusted himself down after Singapore and Japan and he’s going to put in a solid performance and he’s going to be on the third step of the podium on Sunday.”
“So it’s Norris, Piastri and Perez, only because some kind of misfortune has fallen in the way of Max Verstappen.”
It is quite clear that Tom doesn’t think everything will go as perfectly as Max Verstappen wants it to and he may be right.
Verstappen’s chance to secure F1 Championship before the race in Qatar
Max Vertappen currently holds such a magnificent lead over his closest rival in the championship that he pretty much doesn’t need to do anything extraordinary to win the championship in Qatar.
Max Verstappen currently holds 400 points and stands atop the championship table. He only needs 3 more points this weekend, which means he only needs to finish within the top 6 of this weekend’s sprint to be crowned a triple-time world champion, giving him proof of the grit he has shown this season all throughout.
Do you think Tom’s predictions will come true and Max will lose the victory in Sunday’s race to Lando Norris or any other driver? Tell us your predictions in the comments section.
