25/10/2025

SPORTS SATURDAY | OCT 25, 2025

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Jitters in McLaren paddock McLaren in danger of catastrophic collapse as Verstappen manoeuvres into slipstream I T’S TOUGH not to overstate just how unfathomable the current positioning at the top of the F1 drivers’ championship was just “The pressure builds when things start going wrong; it’s difficult to find your way out of that scenario,” 2009 F1 world champion and ex-McLaren driver Jenson Button told Sky Sports . “This is pressure no racing driver feels until you’re fighting for a title in Formula One.” Brown and team principal Andrea Stella, as they look to arrest this current slide. Say, for instance, a tow in qualifying for the Australian, at venues with long straights such as round 22 in Las Vegas, to give Piastri an extra speed boost for pole position. Ű BY KIERAN JACKSON

make him No. 1 after his fifth-place finish on Sunday. “We’re still incredibly tight. We both wanted an opportunity to fight for the championship because we deserve it. I think it’s far too close to start picking one or the other.” Fighting talk? Not exactly.

In the McLaren motorhome, all is not well. The Austin weekend started with the borderline ludicrous discussion around “repercussions” for Norris, following his minor contact with Piastri at the last race in Singapore. McLaren didn’t act then, nor did the stewards. Why the need to stoke the fire a fortnight on? Why give half a story, without specifying what such “repercussions” are? While teams are of course allowed to keep discreet matters in-house, the level of ambiguity was jarring. The general understanding among the paddock is that the “repercussions” mean minor sporting advantages will lean in Piastri’s favour.

The whole discussion, however, was thrust further into the spotlight after a torrid weekend in which both McLaren drivers collided and crashed out of the sprint race on Saturday. If anything, this time it was Piastri who was at fault. It is a can of worms that, to a large degree, was avoidable. McLaren could still have a decision on their hands: they could still make either Piastri or Norris their No. 1 driver, to increase their chances of stopping Verstappen. But they won’t; it’s too far gone now. Even Piastri knows it. “I dunno, I don’t think so,” the Australian replied when asked if M c L a r e n s h o u l d

two months ago. Rewind four races and Max Verstappen trailed Oscar Piastri by 104 points. For all intents and purposes, it was a McLaren intra team title battle. A surefire thing. Whether it be Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris, the winner in Abu Dhabi on Dec 7 would be adorned in bright papaya. Now, the outlook is not so black and white. Indeed, now the future looks like a blanket of orange, with dark blue and red splattered all over it. An individual title that looked genuinely unlosable for McLaren, such was their irrepressible dominance for most of this season, is now in danger of a catastrophic collapse. For Verstappen, who had long dismissed his chances of a fifth consecutive title (a feat only matched by Michael Schumacher before him), it was the perfect sprint weekend in Austin. Two pole positions, two race wins, and a maximum 33 points to his name. Even the Dutchman, who has at times been visibly unbothered by this season’s trials and tribulations at Red Bull, is now licking his lips. “For sure, the (title) chance is there,” he told Martin Brundle below the podium, immediately after his dominant victory at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday. “We just need to try and deliver these kinds of weekends until the end. It’s exciting and I’m excited until the end.” Verstappen’s gap is now 40 points to Piastri, with five races left and 141 points to play for. Norris, who at least recovered from a slow start to finish second on Sunday, is just 14 points off his teammate. Out of nothing, the tide is turning dramatically against the previously unflappable Australian. O S CAR PIA S TRI confirmed yesterday that both he and McLaren teammate Lando Norris will start this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix with a “clean slate” following their collision in Texas. The title rivals, separated by 14 points with five Grands Prix remaining, crashed out during last Saturday’s sprint race at the United States Grand Prix – an accident that resulted in Piastri accepting some of the blame. “We review every weekend regardless of what’s happened,” he said. “I think there is a degree of responsibility on my side for the sprint and we are starting this weekend with a clean slate for both of us. So, just going out racing.”

Button can empathise with Piastri’s plight. Back in ’09, the Briton inched his way over the finish line, failing to win any of the last 10 races in a freak year of dominance by the one-and-done Brawn team. A more relevant year for McLaren would be 2007: Lewis Hamilton’s rookie year, in which the toxic intra team feud with Fernando Alonso ultimately resulted in Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen nipping in at the death to take the drivers’ title by one point. It is a scenario that should be omnipresent in the minds of McLaren CEO Zak

Piastri, on track, has definitely hit a rut at just the wrong time. He complained all weekend of feeling “out of rhythm” with the

car, seemingly struggling with the heavy crosswinds more than most in qualifying. Lacking in confidence, the 24-year-old needs a reset in

Mexico this weekend. Yet the McLaren creaks are starting to rear their head. If anything, despite the points discrepancy, Norris appears best placed right now to seize the initiative. Certainly, the team (particularly Piastri) need to get back to consistent podiums at a minimum. There’s a championship to win – a first drivers’ crown since Hamilton in 2008 – and they are the ones with the points on the board. Norris could well have passed Verstappen in Austin’s grand prix if he hadn’t ceded second place to Charles Leclerc at the start. The Dutchman’s newfound jolt of speed at Red Bull is not insurmountable. But make no mistake: there is a caffeine-induced, title-hungry energy drink surging up behind McLaren right now. Red Bull’s subtle mechanical upgrades, such as moving the skid blocks underneath the floor of the car to improve the aerodynamics, have given their leading man a new lease of life. Verstappen title assault has now diverged into a genuine three-horse race for the championship. And with favourable races on the horizon where the Dutchman has triumphed before – Mexico, Brazil and Vegas all favour him on paper – it seems an unprecedented comeback really could be in the offing. – The Independent first corner at the start, Piastri admitted it was likely to be a key part of Sunday’s (Monday 4am Malaysian time) race.“It’s tough to have that long run, but ultimately it’s about making the right decisions and trusting your instincts. Deal with the situation that you’ve got. There’s no magic formula!” Equally, he said he was not thinking about Verstappen’s form and experience. “No, I don’t think about it. He’s been consistent and strong, yes, there’s no denying that, but there is no benefit for me in thinking about that. For me, it’s about myself, my car and my team. “I’ve won championships in the past and have those to look back on so I know I can pull it off.” – AFP

FROM LEFT: Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri. – AFPPIC

McLaren gives drivers carte blanche to race

about the pressure from his rivals. “But for me I have to focus on being as fast as I can and having good weekends. That’s all I am focussed on and if I stay on top of that the rest of it doesn’t matter. “I prefer to be the hunted than the hunter. Both have positives and negatives and I know everyone likes the underdog comeback story, but I would rather lead because then I know I’ve been doing something right.” Asked about the long run to the

side have been removed,” said Piastri, speaking to reporters at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. “There’s a lot of factors involved, but ultimately, yes, that’s what has been decided.” A calm Piastri said he felt confident he could defend his shrinking lead in the title race as Norris and Verstappen close in and referred to his three title triumphs in junior series including F3 and F2 as valuable experiences. “Yes, the gap has shrunk a bit in the last few races,” he said, when asked

McLaren had previously judged Norris to have been responsible for their collision in Singapore and told him he faced “repercussions” that would be exercised by the team. These have now been cancelled, giving both McLaren men a freedom to fight for the title and resist the late charge of four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who is third, 40 points behind Piastri after three wins in four races. “The consequences on Lando’s