Verstappen is currently in the groove and Red Bull have clearly worked tirelessly on their car.
The McLarens are still the best on the grid but I can't say the same about their drivers.
Naivete? Lack of experience? Who knows, but with Piastri now not finishing on the podium for three races, one a DNF, and Norris grinding out results, Max is in a superb position to claw back enough to put himself into contention.
One more DNF for either McLaren with a Max win makes this Drivers Championship no longer a formality.
Piastri sems to have lost the edge and hunger/bravery that he showed at the beginning of the season.
The fact he showed zero fight yesterday was pretty alarming. I know he's a pretty chilled guy in the media but that's two weekends in a row now where he's had a mare from beginning to end, and the guy just doesn't look arsed. Second driver syndrome.
Norris has had the bit between his teeth, IMO since his brain fart in Canada. And even before he crashed in that race he had the pace on Piastri. People talk about the engine failure but for me I think his turnaround started before then.
Norris is playing it smart at the moment, not making any daft mistakes and carefully chipping his way at that lead with Buttonesque smoothness.
There's not a lot more he can do - IMO he's getting the best out of that Mclaren at the moment. Maybe the aero / engineering guys got a bit cocky and stopped developing the car a bit too soon assuming Red Bull were nowhere.
If he'd have done his Q3 run a bit later he'd have probably got pole ahead of Max and won the race. Once Norris got past Charles he was as fast as Max, it was the scrapping that let Max get such a big lead yesterday.
Red Bull have improved massively - whether it's down to some aero development, fucking off Horner and having a less toxic working environment in the garage and factory, or most likely a bit of both.
IF Norris wins the championship this season he needs to swallow a few **** pills and demand first driver status next season.
