After his dominating display in winning the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, Max Verstappen could claim his fourth Formula 1 world championship in Las Vegas.
The Dutchman mastered the rain to storm from 17th on the grid to take the chequered flag and set the fastest lap in Sao Paulo, extending his lead in the drivers' standings to 62 points.
Nearest challenger Lando Norris had an afternoon to forget as he slipped from pole position to finish sixth on a day when the McLaren driver would have been hoping to reel in Verstappen rather than fall further off the pace.
"From now, I just want clean races to the end. I'm not thinking about clinching the championship in Vegas or whatever. I just want clean races," Verstappen replied when asked about potentially sealing a fourth successive drivers' title.
In truth, after taking his first victory since the Spanish GP in June, Verstappen will no doubt be keen to wrap up the crown on the streets of Las Vegas on the 23rd November.
With two races, two potential fastest laps and a sprint race to come after Vegas, there will be just 60 points available.
That means Verstappen will join Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel on four F1 drivers' championships if he wins the Las Vegas GP, repeating his success on the Strip last year.
Indeed, Norris will need to outscore his rival by three points to keep his own slender title ambitions alive heading to Qatar, meaning a finish of eighth or below in Vegas for the Briton, without the fastest lap point, would see Verstappen crowned regardless of his own finishing position.
The Red Bull driver was an all-conquering champion last season but has had to watch as McLaren and Ferrari surpassed his team for speed and results this year.
Even so, the 27-year-old is now on the precipice of a fourth straight title, with only Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio having managed the feat previously – Michael Schumacher is clear on five consecutive championship successes between 2000 and 2004.
Verstappen will be champion in Vegas if:
- Verstappen finishes ahead of Norris
- Norris is second and Verstappen is third with the fastest lap
- Norris is third and Verstappen is fourth with the fastest lap
- Norris is fourth and Verstappen is fifth
- Norris is fifth and Verstappen is sixth
- Norris is sixth and Verstappen is seventh
- Norris is seventh and Verstappen is eighth
- Norris is eighth and Verstappen is ninth
- Norris is ninth, 10th or fails to score
