Lando Norris’ long-running battle with Max Verstappen could come to an end at this weekend’s Las Vegas race, with the Brit likely not having enough ammunition to fight off his rival. McLaren appeared to be struggling since Friday, and that was reflected in qualifying when they failed to break into the top five.

Norris qualified in P6 while Verstappen managed a P5. With Ferrari and Mercedes clearly quicker, it leaves Norris with little hope of a good result on Saturday.

“I don’t know. We are not very fast. I don’t expect too much. It will be extremely difficult to overtake. The tires are complicated and we are the car that uses the tires the most.” Norris said.

Norris has further blamed the lack of grip in the tires for McLaren’s failure to perform. He also points to slow corners as his weakness.

“Everyone has problems, but we are more affected. The way we drive our car is not adapted to this level of grip. If you do a magic lap, the pace is there, but it’s almost impossible to do that.” Norris added.

Norris is mathematically still in the championship race. All he needs to do to extend the championship fight is prevent Verstappen from overtaking him, but his words suggest that could be difficult.

Will Verstappen be champion this weekend?

Verstappen is the favorite to seal his fourth consecutive championship this weekend as he only needs a 60-point gap on the McLaren star at the end of the race to seal his title. Also, with Verstappen in a better starting position for the race, he would do his best to keep Norris behind him. This could be the first race this season where no Red Bull or McLaren driver finishes on the podium, as both Ferrari and Mercedes appear to have the better car for the weekend.

And with Ferrari outperforming McLaren in qualifying, the Woking-based outfit may need to focus more on them as the constructors’ title is still up for grabs. With three races remaining, including this weekend’s Las Vegas GP, Ferrari are 36 points behind leaders McLaren.