The moment Verstappen ended Norris's title hopes

So often a figure of joviality in the Formula One paddock, Lando Norris did not muck around at the end of the US Grand Prix.

- KIERAN JACKSON

Blood no doubt boiling beneath his yellow race helmet, the McLaren driver made his way straight to the media pen and, to his credit, did not entirely lash out. Instead, he laid out the key events in his mind’s eye.

What was striking, though, was one particular phrase used to describe Sunday’s grand prix in Austin. “It’s a momentum killer,” he said. Deep down, the Bristolian knows there may be no coming back from this. Was this the day any glimpse of a first F1 world championship slipped away for Norris? Yes, in all likelihood.

After a three-week autumn break, McLaren dropped from the quickest on track to third-fastest, behind Ferrari and Red Bull. Norris lost the lead from pole – for the eighth time in his career - and dropped horrifically down to fourth after turn one. The possibility of a race win long over, he then came out second-best in an intoxicating late squabble with Max Verstappen; a six-point swing the wrong way which could spell the end for his title dream.

The ramifications of this sprint weekend in Austin – where a maximum of 34 points were up for grabs – are enormous. Before this race, Norris needed to beat Verstappen by an average of nine points per race to catch the Dutchman by the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. Norris and his team needed to be nearfaultless. Now, with the Red Bull driver extending his lead by five points to 57 with five rounds remaining, it is closer to 12 points a race.

In reality, it will take a Verstappen retirement to allow Norris back in the hunt. Norris’s hold of second place, with Ferrari’s race winner Charles Leclerc just 22 points behind, is in danger now.