Vegas Baby! Formula 1 Three Races to Go!

The two McLaren drivers are currently 1st and 2nd with only three races to go. Who will win? NMS rooting for McLaren at the 2023 Miami race. 

The Formula 1 season has only three races to go, and they are back-to-back-to-back starting this Saturday night in Las Vegas. While every other race of the season is held on a Sunday, I guess the allure of the night time lights of the Las Vegas strip was the entertainment factor they were looking for with a night race in Nevada. After this weekend, the cars, drivers, and crews head for the final races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. With the race on Saturday instead of Sunday, that means that practice in Vegas starts on Thursday night (in the USA) so you can check your ESPN and ESPN+ listings for times if you don't have the F1 TV app. 

Four time defending champ Max Verstappen is in 3rd place. 
Can he make it five in a row?

Sure, there have been a few other triple-headers like this, but what makes these last races more dramatic is that we still don't know who will win the drivers championship. There are three drivers still in the hunt, so it will come down to one of these three:

The starting grid on race day at Miami in 2023. Man, I don't know how they race those cars with so many people on the track!

1: Lando Norris is currently leading, and has been on a good run lately, so the easiest betting money is that he'll be able to continue and win the whole thing, and make 2025 his first World Championship. Lando drives for McLaren, and the team has already wiped out the other teams and taken the Constructors title. He's ahead of the 2nd place driver by only 24 points. Since a Grand Prix victory is worth 25 points, it isn't over yet. 

2:  Oscar Piastri has led most of the season, and drives for McLaren just like Lando Norris. This has made the title race even more dramatic, with two teammates in the same car fighting the other for points at every race. Oscar had a few races that didn't go so well, but he's well within range of taking his first F1 title as well. Waiting to see these last races and how they race against each other should be a great fight. 

3: Max Verstappen is a bit further behind in 3rd, but as the four time defending champion, I'm not ruling him out of anything until it's mathematically impossible. Max drives for the Red Bull team, and has had some great victories this year, but overall has been out performed by the McLaren team. If anyone can come from behind and rack up the points in three races with the pressure on, it's Max. He's 48 points out of first, so he probably needs some wins combined with McLaren not finishing to win his fifth title this year. Since one of the final three races adds a sprint race, there are 83 drivers points still up for grabs, so it could happen.