There are few strategy options as well, because of a unique aspect of this race.
Lusail’s plethora of long-duration, medium- and high-speed corners place heavy demands on the tyres, and the sharp kerbs make matters worse.
Tyre supplier Pirelli, fearing punctures, has imposed a mandatory maximum of 25 laps usage on any set of tyres, which makes the race a two pit-stop strategy at least.
There is plenty of jeopardy, though. Both Piastri and Mercedes’ George Russell – who was second in the sprint and has qualified fourth for the grand prix – suffered tears in their front tyres before the end of the 19-lap sprint.
For Piastri, this race marked a timely return to form after a difficult run of races through the autumn.
He looked like a champion elect when his victory in the Dutch Grand Prix, in addition to Norris’ retirement with a fuel-line failure, gave Piastri a 34-point lead in the championship. He had until then been the more convincing McLaren driver this season.
But Piastri has been on the podium only once since then, at the very next race, and a run of grands prix in which he has made mistakes and lacked pace have seen Norris wrest control of the title race from him.
For Piastri – as for Verstappen – really only a win will do tomorrow. Or at the very least they need to beat Norris.
Piastri said: “I’ve been kind of in that same situation the whole weekend and it’s gone well so far.
“So I think I’ve gained you know a lot of confidence back that when things are in the right place and when I’m in the rhythm that things can happen without needing to do anything special.
“So I’m confident we can try and do the same tomorrow. And (I’m) ready for the fight.”
As all three pointed out, though, a lot can happen in the 200 miles of a grand prix.
Other cars can cause problems. There can be safety cars, incidents, retirements.
The tyre restrictions mean the race will likely be flat out from start to finish, or as close as it gets. So mistakes are more likely.
For all that the occasional grand prix can be soporific, and for all many drivers expect this one to be, a race can go awry in many more ways than it can go well.
Verstappen, who is competing for his fifth world title while the McLaren drivers seek their first, knows this all too well.
“You never know what happens in a race,” he said. “We have a two-stop and also some things are not in your control, right?
“There might be some crazy things that also happen behind you, so you just need to keep everything open.
“We’ll try everything we can, try to have a good start, then try to look after our tyres a little bit better because the understeer that we have in the car is normally also not good on race pace for that, but we’ll try to minimise the damage.”
As for how to wind down before the day on which he achieves his lifetime ambition, Norris said he was going to try to relax in his hotel room on Saturday night.
“Play some basketball in my room. Actual basketball. I’m going to go home, get a spaghetti bolognese in, play some Counter-Strike, probably lose some Elo (ratings) and then go to bed.”
Other than that, he said, he would try to stay away from the media, “go and see my engineers, do some work, prepare the best I can. See what opportunities may arise.”
The biggest prize in motorsport is waiting there for someone. Who will grasp it?
