Verstappen 'appreciates' McLaren's title fight approach: 'They're the boss'
Max Verstappen says he "appreciates" McLaren’s approach to the 2025 title fight.
McLaren does the things the way they want to do it- Max Verstappen
McLaren, led by CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella, have maintained a policy of not favouring either Piastri or Lando Norris until one of them is mathematically out of contention, a stance Verstappen says he "appreciates" even as the pressure builds.
Asked whether he could relate to the pressure both McLaren drivers are under, drawing parallels with his own first title fight in 2021, Verstappen said in an interview on the Inside Track podcast: “I mean at the end of the day I don’t really think about that too much, about what others feel or think.
"I know of course what I felt in ’21, but at the same time I think I just need to focus on what we can control, and that’s the performance here with everyone and the car. I think then your hands are already quite full.”
When reminded that McLaren’s young pairing are feeling the heat of having a four-time world champion closing in, Verstappen added: “Yeah, yeah. At the same time, like I said, I just live my life. I do my job, go home and I come back and I know that I will give it everything.
"I’m just very focused on my side of the garage. They’ve obviously got a different approach to how they’re doing things and we’ve seen that.”
As for whether McLaren’s philosophy could backfire, Verstappen replied: “I mean, I would also think that for me that time will tell, right? And again, it’s not something that I also want to unnecessarily add pressure or whatever.
"I mean, McLaren does the things the way they want to do it. You can agree with that or not, right? But that’s not up to us, because they are the boss. They do what they want. And you have to appreciate that,” Verstappen concluded.
Verstappen on the backfoot in Mexico?
Following FP2's findings, McLaren seem to have quite the edge in race trim, with Verstappen admittedly struggling, claiming there was still work to do for Red Bull to improve the lack of grip that amrred their Friday afternoon.
For a better outlook into the race pace of all the top contenders, you can read our FP2 long run analysis here.
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