McLaren’s drivers are battling fiercely, but Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could swoop in to snatch the F1 title, a scenario that Oscar Piastri has said would “hurt
McLaren, led by Piastri and teammate Lando Norris, are locked in a tight intra-team duel for the crown. Meanwhile, Red Bull are effectively a one-car squad in the drivers’ championship chase, with Verstappen aiming for a record-equalling fifth consecutive title.
So far, Verstappen has claimed two wins compared to Piastri’s five, yet the Dutch driver continues to pile up points, trailing Piastri by 39 markers, 137 to 186, with Norris close behind at 176.
This dynamic echoes the 1986 season, when the Williams duo of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet clashed, allowing McLaren’s Alain Prost to steal the drivers’ title in the finale, aided by Mansell’s dramatic tyre blowout. History could repeat itself, and McLaren are aware of the risk.
“It is a possibility, yes,” Piastri told BBC Sport. “But, on both sides of the garage here, we want to win because we’ve been the best driver, the best team, including against the other car in the team. You always want to earn things on merit, and you want to be able to beat everyone, including your team-mate.”
McLaren are balancing individual ambitions with team goals, Piastri explained. “So that gives Lando and I the best chance of our personal goals of trying to become drivers’ world champion, while also achieving the main result for the team, which is the constructors’ championship,” he said.
“If we do get beaten by Max, of course that would hurt, but we would know that we both had the same opportunity, we were racing everybody out there and that’s just how it panned out. For us it’s the most straightforward, the fairest way of going racing and that’s what we’ve asked for.”
The action resumes at the Canadian Grand Prix, where the teams will tackle 70 laps of the 4.361-kilometre Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday, June 15. Will the McLaren hold off Verstappen, or will Red Bull strike again? The chase is on!
