Hard to believe, what with having claimed the constructors' crown two weeks ago, but today McLaren is pretty very much on the back foot.
Yes, Norris is starting from the front row, but with both cars eliminated on the first lap yesterday and only one practice session, the Woking team has virtually no meaningful data to go into this race with.
Added to that is the fact that Norris will be painfully aware that he must neither tangle with his teammate or indeed get into any sort of situation that will play against the team.
As for Piastri, well the fact is that for reasons that are not entirely obvious he appears to have lost his mojo of late.
Usually it is his teammate who wears his heart on his sleeve, but for the last couple of weekends the Australian hasn't been as on the boil as usual and suddenly we're witnessing little cracks in that steely façade.
Verstappen is Verstappen and we know that he will go into this race with one aim, to win. We believe that he isn't yet focussed on the title, but if he continues to deliver and McLaren continue screwing up that will come.
Ferrari has had a strange weekend, alarmingly off the pace one minute then back on it moments later, and for once both drivers appear to mean business.
Fresh from his Singapore victory Russell will be up for it, while teammate Antonelli is also likely to be in the mix.
Bearman is turning out to be one of the big surprises this year, and should be in for another few points while Sainz is finally coming good at Williams.
Last year, Verstappen pulled a stunning first corner move on poler-man Norris and no doubt the Briton will be keen to repay the compliment. However, with an eye on yesterday, Norris might be best served to take it one step at a time.
Indeed, everyone, especially the Papaya pair will be best served by playing the long game today with no first lap heroics.
The Circuit of the Americas is a great track and brings out the best in certain drivers. The track was modelled on sections from various legendary tracks and it works.
The hard tyre now is the valid strategic option today, given that the performance gap to the medium is less than expected. Looking at all the available compounds, a number of different strategies are possible with no significant disadvantages: all of which are close in terms of overall race time.
Stretching the first medium stint to a pit stop window between laps 20 and 26 allows a one-stopper, if you then go onto the hard. But a two-stopper is equally effective using soft and medium: starting on the soft and then swapping to the medium between laps 12 and 18. The teams can then decide whether or not to run the medium again for the final stint, or stretch the middle stint and use the extra speed of the soft in the final laps.
A one-stopper using just medium and soft would require extremely accurate tyre management and might risk compromising performance, to the extent that Pirelli doesn't believe it to be a realistic option.
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As we saw yesterday, the drivers will have to pay close attention to two external factors that made driving conditions tricky: gusting winds and irregular asphalt. The first issue adds to the risk of locking up under braking and so can potentially reduce the operating window of the tyres. The uneven asphalt can instead cause micro-slides, which raises tyre temperature and so adds to the challenge of thermal management."
All the main players have one set of fresh hards and one set of fresh mediums, while with two and three sets of fresh softs, respectively, Albon and Hadjar might opt to go hell for leather from the outset, as might Stroll, who qualified 18th but starts 19th as a result of his collision with Bearman in the Sprint.
The pitlane opens and Hulkenberg leads the way, followed by Verstappen, Bortoleto, Antonelli and Bearman.
Air temperature is 27 degrees C, while the track temperature is 44 degrees. It is bright and sunny with barely a cloud in the sky, though just a little windy.
As the pitlane closes the last to take their places on the grid are Sainz and Bearman.
In the moments before the formation lap a new rear wing is fitted to Lawson's car following a mishap that saw the original wing damaged.
All are starting on mediums bar Leclerc, Bortoleto and Stroll who are on softs - a bold move by the Ferrari driver. Ocon, Albon and Hadjar are on hards. Fresh rubber for all bar Leclerc and Alonso, as ever.
They head off on the formation lap, all getting away cleanly. A number of drivers complain of the crosswind.
The grid forms.
They're away! Great start from Leclerc who takes full advantage of his softs, and while Verstappen leads into Turn 1 the Monegasque is going around the outside of Norris. On the run to Turn 2 Leclerc is ahead and almost up with Verstappen, indeed he makes a sneaky move. However, into the twisty complex that follows the Dutchman gets away.
Russell has a poor start and is passed by Hamilton and Piastri, and even Antonelli has a look. Elsewhere, Alonso is boxed in by Tsunoda.
At the back of the field Albon has gone wide bringing out double-waved yellows.
At the end of Lap 1, it's: Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Antonelli, Bearman, Sainz and Tsunoda.
A major disaster the keyboard failed.
We are now on Lap 7, Verstappen leads Leclerc by 2.8s, Norris is third, ahead of Hamilton, Piastri, Russell, Tsunoda, Bearman, Hulkenberg and Alonso.
The VSC is deployed as Sainz and Antonelli have collided at Turn 15, the Mercedes driver has dropped to last while Sainz has stopped on track.
Replays show the Spaniard made a move on the Italian and basically T-boned the Mercedes sending it into a spin,
"He took me out," says Antonelli. "What a ******* idiot!"
"Sorry guys, Antonelli just turned in there," says Sainz who has damage to the front of his car.
It gets worse, live timing is lagging and everything is two to three laps down.
On Lap 15 Norris is all over Leclerc, however somehow the Ferrari driver holds him off. Great stuff from both. Verstappen is 6.5s clear of the pair.
After 18 laps Piastri remains fifth, 4.1s down on Hamilton.
Again Norris is all over Leclerc, but again he fails, going wide in the process.
"Pit to overtake," Norris is told, but it's a bluff by McLaren.
Norris given a warning flag for track limits violations.
Finally on Lap 21 Norris nails Leclerc in Turn 12, the crowd cheers as the Briton sets about closing the 10.6s gap to Verstappen.
Hamilton closes on his Ferrari teammate who is clearly struggling with those worn softs. However, the Monegasque is in no mood to yield.
Leclerc pits at the end of Lap 22. He rejoins in ninth on mediums.
Russell is 2.5s down on Piastri who remains 4s down on Hamilton.
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