2025 TITLE SHOWDOWN

This year looked like being a high-noon shootout between McLaren's inform drivers. .. before Max arrived with a fistful of victories. Mark Hughes looks back at the season so far

- Mark Hughes

Soon we'll know the outcome of what has turned out to be a fascinating three-way title fight. Someone has to win it. And by the final race the fascination will be in how we got there. The grands prix in Mexico and Brazil signalled that Lando Norris was far from the delicate flower many had written off against the tougher cookies Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. These two races set a tone, especially as they illuminated moments of competitive distress for Norris's two title rivals - as well as a sensational back-from-the-dead recovery by Verstappen in São Paulo. In particular these GPs beautifully encompassed the sheer volatility of a seasonal contest which had initially looked like a straightforward exclusively McLaren affair.

The high altitude of Mexico City makes the surface of the Hermanos Rodriguez track unpredictable in the extreme in this temperature-sensitive Pirelli era. Because the air contains fewer molecules, the slightest bit of sunshine heats the surface up super-fast (less blockage through the thin air) and a bit of cloud cover reduces it equally quickly (thinner air means less absorption of the heat).

All of which means that the sensitivity of these cars to getting the tyre temperatures balanced between the two axles is even more acute than normal. Any car which can do that relatively easily (the McLaren much more than the Red Bull) will be at a significant advantage here. So long as the driver can get the whole ball rolling in generating front temperatures in the tyre's core. So Norris had a bigger advantage than normal over both Verstappen and his own teammate Piastri. Why so?