Will Verstappen win because of this mistake from Norris? 'Very unfortunate'
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- Nicole Mulder
Nigel Mansell believes Lando Norris can win his first world title this year. The former Formula One driver stressed that Max Verstappen only needs to retire once during a race to open the door for Norris. However, Mansell believes a mistake by the McLaren driver could end up costing him.
Will Verstappen win because of this mistake by Norris?
Verstappen currently has a 52-point lead over title rival Norris, but Mansell believes that picture could turn around very quickly. "I think he (Norris) can overhaul Max because Red Bull have had fantastic reliability so far and Max (Verstappen) only has to have one retirement or problem [to let Lando in]," he said in a conversation with Top Offshore Sportsbooks.
"I think the other very unfortunate thing is that Lando made the mistake of trying to overtake Verstappen on the outside in Austria. Because you can’t overtake a several time World Champion on the outside. And that race was his to win, and he could be 25 points even closer now. So I still think there’s a great chance for him to have a good go at the championship," concluded the 1992 world champion.
With six races to go, the pressure on Red Bull Racing is greater than ever. The Austrian F1 team will have to come up with a successful update package at the next race in Austin to make the RB20 competitive again. Verstappen, thanks in part to Daniel Ricciardo's fastest lap in the Singapore Grand Prix, can finish second behind Norris for the rest of the season. In that scenario, the Dutchman would win his fourth world title in Abu Dhabi with a two-point lead.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton