At the beginning of this season, I never would’ve thought that McLaren’s Lando Norris had a strong shot at winning the Formula One World Championship. But as the season progressed, he got his maiden win and started having intense battles with three-time world champion, Max Verstappen.

Norris has shown consistent results, winning three races this season and proving he can go toe-to-toe with Verstappen. His performance this season is something we hadn’t quite seen from him in previous seasons. This is huge because not only do these victories showcase his talent, but they highlight his growth as a driver. 

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Verstappen currently leads the championship with 362 points — 47 points above Norris, whose 315 points have him in second place. Despite the gap, Norris has shown that he can close up on Verstappen – just this past race weekend he entered with a gap of 57 points and brought it down to 47.

The back-and-forth between the two has been nothing short of impressive. We saw it first at the Austria Grand Prix when the pair collided, leaving Verstappen with a 10-second penalty but still placing fifth, and Norris forced to retire. Then again at the Austin Grand Prix, where Norris received a five-second penalty that dropped him from third to fourth in the race, even though Verstappen totally deserved the penalty instead. And just this weekend at the Mexico City Grand Prix, where Verstappen finally got the penalties he deserved. He was handed two 10-second penalties — I know crazy. The first penalty was for forcing Norris off the track and the second was for gaining an unfair advantage to second place by leaving the track himself. 

After these incidents, especially the questionable penalties in Austin, I started to lose a little hope for Norris. Despite these controversies, each of these races showcases just how competitive Norris and Verstappen are, not just in their fight for the championship, but in terms of skill. It’s clear that Verstappen is fighting hard for the championship, even if that means pulling some questionable moves like he did in Austin, which in his favor resulted in a penalty for Norris. 

Penalties can be tricky when stewards make decisions that both drivers and fans struggle to understand. Of course, I love seeing overtakes and battles on the track, especially after last year. I was pretty bored seeing Verstappen win almost every weekend. But my problem is that Verstappen has proven that his aggressive driving can sometimes cross the line and be dangerous, hence the penalties. 

It’s also frustrating watching Norris and Verstappen get so caught up fighting each other to the max any chance they get, that they leave it open for someone else to overtake or even just lose the lead altogether.

We saw it in Austria when Norris and Verstappen were battling it out for the lead, collided and George Russell won. 

As much as I believe that Norris is a future world champion with the potential to win the title this season, the reality is that the outcome might be influenced by the stewards. Considering all the penalties and controversial incidents that have gone down between the two, who’s to say that won’t keep happening in the next races, but most importantly in Abu Dhabi?

We saw a similar situation in 2021 — throughout the whole season Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled it out, and ultimately, it came down to a very questionable call at the final race in Abu Dhabi that restarted the final lap and ultimately gave the championship to Verstappen. 

With just four races left this season, the fight for the championship is going to be close. Norris needs to continue driving as he has and outperform Verstappen in these next races.

Regina Correa is a sophomore writing about the world of motorsports in her column, “Need for Speed,” which runs every other Tuesday.