Damon Hill picked up the ball and ran with it as he delivered an analogy-laden verdict on the state of the F1 2024 title race. But while Max Verstappen’s possession of P1 is “nine-tenths”, he’s also holding the “egg” (or was it the “baby”?) and he can’t drop it, whereas Lando Norris is the “rat”, or the “wolf”, and he doesn’t have to hold a baby..
.or an egg. And surprising, it all makes perfect sense.
With seven races remaining this season and 212 points still in play, Verstappen’s battle against Norris may not be the closest fight seen in Formula 1 history but, with McLaren’s gains, it is a contest. In the last two races alone, Norris has taken 11 points out of Verstappen’s lead to reduce it to 59 and, if the state of play continues with the McLaren being the fastest of the two cars, he could yet bring it down to a season-ending title-decider. McLaren have already taken the lead in the Constructors’ Championship, turning Red Bull’s 30-point advantage after Zandvoort into a 20-point deficit two races later in Baku.
All though is not lost for Verstappen, insists Hill, as he’s still the one sitting up in P1 in the Drivers’ standings. 👉 The ultimate F1 2024 title calculator: How Lando Norris could beat Max Verstappen 👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix “I think possession is nine-tenths of all of it,” the 1996 World Champion told the Sky F1 podcast. “He’s got the points already Max, and they’re sitting there, but they are watching it being eaten away.
“And it’s just a question of how fast the rats are eating the cheese. “You know, they [Red Bull] are sitting there anxiously, but they’re the people in the lead. And if you see it as a race, it literally is how many tenths of a second are they taking out per lap before they cross the line, you know? “So it’s better to be in a position with the points.
You can turn it around, find something, find a solution to the problem they’ve got and find some gain, but they really are just playing out the advantage they’ve got.” Norris, however, also has factors going in his favour of which Hill says the biggest is that he can take risks that Verstappen cannot. “But the thing is when you’re chasing, you have nothing to lose,” he continued.
“That’s the beauty of the chasing position it’s the hunting down the people in front, ‘well, I’m second anyway, so I can take all the risks’. “I used to think leading a race was a little bit like an egg and spoon race, you’re holding this very well..
. I used another analogy, which was, let’s say you’re holding a baby, you cannot drop the baby. Do not drop the baby.
Go as fast as you can, but don’t drop the baby. “And of course, when you’re chasing, you’re not holding a baby. “You’re just like a wolf chasing the guy in front.
And so you can take all the risks, but when you’re in the lead, that’s the precious thing that everybody’s after, and you’ve got it and you mustn’t drop it.” Got it? Good! Read next: ‘Something has changed’ with Max Verstappen after ‘not feisty’ performance in Baku claim.
