Formula 1: Is the United States Grand Prix setting up for a dominant McLaren weekend? Nick Bromberg October 16, 2025 at 6:53 PM 0 Will either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri win Sunday's Formula 1 United States Grand Prix? (Photo by Mark Sutton Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images) (Mark Sutton Formul...
- - Formula 1: Is the United States Grand Prix setting up for a dominant McLaren weekend?
Nick Bromberg October 16, 2025 at 6:53 PM
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Will either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri win Sunday's Formula 1 United States Grand Prix? (Photo by Mark Sutton - Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images) (Mark Sutton - Formula 1 via Getty Images)
Sunday could be the coronation that McLaren didn't get in Singapore.
The team clinched its second straight constructors' title after the Singapore Grand Prix thanks to a third-place finish by Lando Norris and a fourth-place finish by Oscar Piastri. It was a rare good but not great showing for a team that has dominated Formula 1 in 2025. After all, McLaren clinched the team title with six races to go.
The Singapore Grand Prix was just the third race of the season where at least one McLaren driver didn't finish inside the top two. The first came in Canada, when Norris and Piastri made contact while racing for position. The other came in Baku, the race before Singapore. McLaren struggled in qualifying and Piastri hit the wall on the first lap.
Azerbaijan and Singapore are hardly like any other tracks on the schedule. And it was pretty cool in Canada. The McLaren has been the best overall car by a country mile this season and it's especially dominated in warmer temperatures.
Guess what? It's going to be really, really warm in Austin for the United States Grand Prix (3 p.m. ET, ABC).
Saturday's high is projected to be 95 degrees for the sprint race and qualifying and it's set to be 91 on Sunday. When temps are warmer, brakes and engines are more difficult to keep cool. Tires wear out quicker as well, as tire temperatures become difficult to manage.
One of the assets of this McLaren car is its ability to preserve tires. As other drivers have to be hyper aware of overheating their tires when pushing hard, Norris and Piastri don't have those same concerns. And at a track like Circuit of the Americas, that plays into McLaren's hands even more.
Despite that, neither of the two McLaren drivers are the betting favorite for Sunday's race. That honor goes to Max Verstappen, who, at +175 at BetMGM, is a slight favorite over Norris (+200) and Piastri (+225). Verstappen is still trying to play spoiler as Piastri and Norris race each other for the world championship, though he needs some help from both of them.
Piastri has 335 points and is 22 up on Norris, while Verstappen is 51 back of Norris. Even if Verstappen wins Saturday's sprint race and Sunday's Grand Prix and neither McLaren driver scores any points, he'd still be 40 points back of Piastri and 18 back of Norris.
That's a highly, highly unlikely scenario. The United States Grand Prix has all the makings of a McLaren 1-2. If the driver in first is Piastri, his points lead could be more than a whole race over Norris. If the driver in first is Norris, then the driver's title battle drama could make up for the blowout that was the constructors' championship fight.
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: GL MAG
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