Nico Rosberg shares ‘wide open’ championship verdict and reveals Red Bull worries

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For the first time in 15 years, McLaren have the chance to become the first team other than Mercedes or Red Bull to win a Formula 1 world championship.

It’s been a long time coming, through the agonising Honda years, to the toil of bringing them back to where they belong at the front of the field – they’re now in great shape to dethrone Red Bull at the top.

Lando Norris has slowly been finding a solid level of consistency and is closing the gap to Max Verstappen at the top of the drivers’ standings.

The Dutchman only qualified seventh for the Italian Grand Prix, and was nearly a second behind Norris at what is a fairly short track.

Nico Rosberg thinks Formula 1 championship is ‘wide open’

Verstappen criticised Red Bull for failing to bring a rear wing package to the Temple of Speed, which left them bottom of the pack in straight line speed at stages in Monza.

Nico Rosberg has been studying the mood at the Milton Keynes outfit, and believes that their morale has taken a hit as a result of their loss of pace.

READ MORE: Peter Windsor spots ‘wonderful thing’ Lando Norris did that earned him Monza pole position

“It’s an incredible moment in the season,” he said on the Sky Sports broadcast. “We can see Max’s car is just sliding around. Red Bull have lost their mojo at the moment, which we could never have predicted that.

“McLaren – everything is going right for them. That’s why it really looks like the championship could be wide open, especially after today [Italian GP].”

With little in the way of upgrades to come between now and the end of the year, Red Bull are going to need to figure out their tyre and setup woes.

Who’s in pole position to win the world championship?

If they’re unable to resolve their problems, then they risk losing both championships to McLaren before the season finale at Abu Dhabi.

While Verstappen would likely settle for second place at every event and thus secure the title by a slender margin, but the rate of McLaren’s improvement means that Oscar Piastri may not be in the mirrors of the Dutchman for long.

READ MORE: Damon Hill left very concerned after hearing Helmut Marko’s comments about McLaren at Monza

It’s important to remember that with the exception of Sebastian Vettel‘s incredible 2013 season ending, winning every race left will be almost impossible for Norris.

So there’s some margin for error there, but any retirements and Verstappen could well be waving goodbye to any chances he has left of securing a fourth straight Formula 1 crown.

For Norris, he just has to remain focused on keeping relentless in pursuit of his maiden championship, and he might just find himself becoming the first man since Lewis Hamilton to claim such glory for the Woking based outfit.