28/08/2024
NEWS STORY
Mercedes boss cites Lando Norris' annihilation of Red Bull on Sunday as he insists constructors' title is up for grabs.
"He has basically annihilated all of the competition with that fastest lap at the end, with a 42-lap old hard tyre and a 20-second gap," said Wolff at race end on Sunday, following the McLaren driver's commanding victory.
"So I think this championship, the constructors' championship, is wide open in my opinion and that's good for Formula One," he added.
As we head to Italy, McLaren is just 30 points behind Red Bull, with Ferrari a further 34 points behind, albeit 94 points ahead of Mercedes. In the Drivers' Championship, Max Verstappen heads Norris by 70 points, with Charles Leclerc a further 33 point behind.
While continually finishing second, and hoping that the McLaren drivers might take points from one another, Verstappen has a clear possibility of claiming a fourth title, though the three remaining sprints could jeopardise this, and certainly put the constructors' title at risk.
"It can change very quickly," insists Christian Horner, "and that means it can change back the other way as well.
"McLaren has been the benchmark car over the last few races," he added, "we're very acutely aware that we need to respond to that. We're used to being in championship fights over the years. We'll dig deep and we're going to fight with everything we've got over the remaining nine races."