Through this season-long domination that Max Verstappen and Red Bull have enforced on us, a clear winner in terms of a driver who can stop the Dutch lion has emerged. With his performances this season, Lando Norris has crystalized a hypothesis every F1 fan had since 2019: Norris is a future world champion. But with all these accolades being thrown at him, along with a rejuvenated and pacey MCL6o courtesy of McLaren, Norris still finds himself at his wits end when it comes to bettering Verstappen.

During today’s chaotic Dutch GP qualifying session, the 23-year-old British racing sensation battled and mastered the tricky changeable conditions. And for his troubles, he secured a brilliant front-row start for tomorrow’s race. So far so good, right? But with Verstappen starting alongside him from pole, Norris has already admitted defeat. What’s more? This isn’t a case of the Brit lacking self-belief but rather a case of him knowing McLaren hasn’t done a good enough job, yet.

Lando Norris dissects his race-day failures

After putting in a mammoth effort in Quali today, you’d expect the blazing Brit to be full of confidence and fired up to hand the mighty Max Verstappen defeat. On the contrary, Norris himself has conceded defeat and bowed down to the supremacy of Verstappen in the face of McLaren’s flawed package.

When asked if he could take the fight to the flying Dutchman tomorrow, Norris replied, “Probably for two laps, then he’ll escape tomorrow. We’re not doing very well with regards to degradation, but we’ve improved the car since Friday. Max, however, is on another level in the race.”

In his own words, after the massive upgrade package, McLaren has been making incremental gains here and there, especially on race weekends. But is it all in vain in front of Verstappen’s supernatural powers?

Read More: Despite Broken Bones, Daniel Ricciardo Snubbed by Lando Norris for Oscar Piastri’s Fiery Comeback

Max Verstappen bewitches the Orange Army

Norris dragged his MCL60 to second as the chequered flag fell on Q3 this afternoon. Surely, the Brit has pace. And that’s true. But if you put the entire Qualifying session into context with ‘THAT’ lap that Verstappen pulled out of the bag, then, you’d understand Norris’ pessimism more clearly.

That’s right. While 2nd placed man, Lando Norris clocked in a time of 1.11.104 for his fastest Q3 attempt, the Dutch lion obliterated the entire field with a whopping 1.10.567 lap! Your eyes aren’t deceiving you. In a field spread of just 4 tenths between 2nd and 5th, Verstappen pulled an ungodly 5-and-a-half tenths to Norris to claim pole.

Hence, is the winner of the Dutch GP tomorrow already a foregone conclusion?

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