Russell disrupts F1 title fight: McLaren forced to consider gutting scenario
Max Verstappen took pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Lando Norris in P2 and Oscar Piastri, crucially, in P3, with George Russell lurking in P4.
Norris leads the championship, 12 points ahead of Verstappen, who is 4 points ahead of Piastri, so the Australian is staring right into an arguably impossible scenario: overtaking both Norris and Verstappen, and hoping his British teammate suffers horrendous luck during the race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
However, his chances at the title might already be over. George Russell, following the qualifying session, threw in his support behind Verstappen, proposing himself as the man 'in the mix' that could help the Dutchman beat his McLaren rivals and clinch a fifth back-to-back world title.
McLaren's Abu Dhabi GP predicament
This puts McLaren in the very awkward position of not only looking ahead to what Verstappen does, but also behind, should the Dutchman try to back Norris up in an effort to offer the British McLaren driver up as prey for the podium-hungry drivers behind, such as Russell and potentially Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Should Verstappen employ these tactics - or even if he drove off into the horizon - then there's no reason why McLaren couldn't ask Piastri to back up the pack himself to protect Norris' position, since Piastri's P3 - or even a P2 should Norris DNF - would not be enough for the Australian to take the title.
Despite their two-year-long historical stance on team orders, McLaren hasn't made a secret of the fact that should it come down to it, they would use them to effect the title battle and ensure the result they need to deny Verstappen's title bid, and clinch their first double world championship since 1998.
Should the order remain as is after the first lap, Piastri may have just kissed his world title chances goodbye with today's P3 result.
Piastri reveals he doesn't yet know what McLaren will do
Piastri says he doesn’t know what McLaren’s stance on potential team orders for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be, but believes is aware of the logic of establishing them prior to the race. Read his full remarks here.
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