spookyisland wrote: ↑04 Dec 2025, 13:49
I think Norris has this one in the bag, his cushion in terms of points is just too big to make him have to be really stressed. He knows that he just has to get on the podium if Verstappen wins - and I don't see many contenders to interfere with that: Piastri would probably let Norris through if needed, Ferrari are in shambles and Mercedes is a dark horse for me. One thought regarding which other drivers would prefer what champion: Russell has an interesting situation for this,
because on the one hand he seems to not like Verstappen that much, on the other hand if Norris wins it could sting, because both of them are the next big British drivers after Hamilton. And I guess that having Verstappen with five titles and an even bigger case in the GOAT-debates could be better for Russell in the long term, if he were to team up with Verstappen on Mercedes and be able to be on the same level or even beating Verstappen as his teammate.
But all in all I guess the fans are the ones that think too much and/or too deeply about this stuff, whereas the drivers "just" try to maximize their performance like on any other weekend.
I've thought about this too. On a personal level he probably prefers Lando to win, but professionally and in terms of legacy I'm not sure. The Verstappen train has likely left the station in terms of career achievments for all these guys (Lando, Charles, George, even Oscar), but there's going to be a hard fight behind him for who becomes the "Hakkinen" so to speak of this era. If Lando wins this one he's halfway to becoming that guy pretty much, whereas the others are still stuck on the start line.
Bottom line is that any top driver who makes it easy for one of the contenders is going to look like an uncompetitive wimp.
