McLaren Responds to Verstappen’s Threat: Calm and F1 Strategy

Verstappen Overtakes McLaren in the F1 Championship Fight

For the first time this season, a McLaren driver is no longer the favorite to win the Formula 1 world championship. The odds favor Max Verstappen, while Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris also remain in contention. This shift in the landscape highlights the intense competition at the pinnacle of motorsport. Just three races ago, Verstappen’s odds were much higher, which underlines the speed with which he has reduced Piastri’s lead in the drivers’ standings. The evolution of Red Bull and Verstappen has been such that McLaren could have panicked after a disappointing weekend at the United States Grand Prix. However, McLaren has been aware of Verstappen’s threat for several races.

The danger for me is the same as it was in Baku. I said very clearly in Baku that Max was in contention for the drivers’ championship.

Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal

Identifying the threat is one thing, but combating it is another. Since last month’s Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen has outperformed the two McLaren drivers combined and reduced his distance to Piastri by 64 points. If the same trend were applied to the last five races of the season, Verstappen would surpass both Piastri and Norris to win this year’s title. The improvement in Red Bull’s configuration and the incorporation of a significant update at the Italian Grand Prix have made Verstappen’s car the fastest on the grid in recent races. Added to this is the difficulty of the McLaren drivers in maximizing the performance of their car, and significant errors such as Piastri’s accidents in qualifying and the race in Baku, the difference in the standings has been drastically reduced. Despite Verstappen’s impressive pursuit of his fifth title, the outcome of the drivers’ championship could still be in McLaren’s hands. If both McLaren drivers outperform the defending champion in just one of the remaining five races, the task facing Verstappen becomes immense. Furthermore, McLaren believes that three of the remaining circuits, Brazil, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, will suit their car’s underlying strengths much more than recent tracks.

The fact that there are five races and two sprints means that we can also increase the distance with Max. That’s how I see things.

Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal

Stella also believes that McLaren’s performance is not as disappointing as recent results have suggested. In the five races since the return from the summer break in Zandvoort, Piastri’s average finishing position is 6.6 and Norris’s is 6.4. Verstappen’s is 1.4. After Sunday’s race in Austin, Stella was convinced that Norris would have had the pace to match Verstappen if he hadn’t lost a position to Charles Leclerc at the start and spent the rest of the race battling the Ferrari. Piastri’s lack of performance in Austin was more difficult to explain, but Stella said that important lessons were learned on Sunday that would be applied to the next rounds. Stella also wanted to emphasize that McLaren’s disastrous sprint race, in which Piastri and Norris collided and retired, had significant repercussions for the rest of the weekend. In addition to the points lost, McLaren also missed crucial data by running the car during the shortened race format that would have unlocked more performance in qualifying and the race. What will McLaren do now? One way to increase the chances of a McLaren driver winning the title would be for the team to fully back a single driver. Piastri would be the obvious choice based on his 14-point lead in the championship, although Norris’s better form in recent races is one of the many reasons why such a decision is not clear.

Following multiple questions about such a strategy over the weekend, McLaren remained firm in their belief that both drivers deserve the same opportunities. The only thing that will change that would be a driver being mathematically excluded from the fight for the title.

When it comes to having to make a decision about a driver, this will only be guided by mathematics.

Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal

So, what’s McLaren’s plan to fight Verstappen? According to Stella, the answer is remarkably simple: stay calm and carry on. The team focuses on maintaining calm and the right perspective, understanding that competition is an integral part of Formula 1. Their goal is to enjoy the process, perform to the maximum, and recognize the privilege of being in this position, a result of the hard work of McLaren and its drivers. The path forward is clear: continue the good work, trusting that the results will come.