Piastri and Norris have hurt their title bid worse than Verstappen has
Max Verstappen currently sits in second place in the standings, 12 points off Lando Norris' lead, and four points clear of Oscar Piastri.
It is almost unthinkable when eight rounds ago Piastri seemed to be walking away with the crown, 104 points ahead of Verstappen after winning the Dutch Grand Prix.
However, throughout the season McLaren's decisions, and Piastri and Norris' inconsistency, have allowed the four-time world champion to eat away at the papaya drivers' lead stretching the title fight all the way to the last race.
McLaren's choices cause confusion
In an attempt to provide as fair a playing field for their drivers, they have time and time again betrayed their principles. In Silverstone, McLaren thought the penalty Piastri was handed by the Stewards was unfair, yet they did nothing to mitigate its impact, allowing Norris to go on to claim the victory in detriment of his Australian teammate, who had to take a P2 finish on the chin.
In Hungary, Norris was put on the best strategy, again much to the dismay of Piastri, who once again had to settle for P2 behind his teammate despite qualifying ahead of him and leading him throughout most of the race.
In Monza, despite agreeing beforehand that a slow pit stop was a natural consequence of racing, McLaren forced their youngest title contender to let Norris through after a botched pit stop sequence saw the British driver lose P2 to Piastri.
In Singapore, the team let Norris get away with a clumsy and bumpy overtake on the Australian, which was condemned vehemently over the radio by Piastri himself. Although McLaren imposed sporting sanctions on Norris in Austin, the damage was done, the points had already been awarded, and the sanctions were short-lived after Piastri smashed into Nico Hulkenberg, collecting his teammate in the process.
Piastri and Norris have proven to be unready to win a championship
Although both are undeniably fast, and capable of winning and taking pole positions and so forth, for whatever reason, they lack the necessary ingredients to put together a consistent season-long challenge for the title. If they are still in the fight it is down to McLaren’s excellent job of putting together such an impressive car.
By now it should be clear to all that had Verstappen’s RB21 been on par with the MCL39 since Australia, he’d have walked away with the title a few races ago.
In a car that was untameable, temperamental, nervous, affected by imbalance and mid-corner understeer to oversteer shifts and vice versa, the fact that Verstappen is ahead of Piastri and trails Norris by merely 12 points in the Standings speaks volumes about the Dutchman, yes, but also about his McLaren rivals.
From inexplicable mistakes and crashes, to long periods of significant dips in form, both Norris and Piastri are as responsible as Verstappen himself that the fight is going down to the wire in Abu Dhabi. In seven Grands Prix (since Norris grew his lead in the Standings in Mexico and Brazil) Verstappen has slashed a gap both McLaren drivers took over half a season to build.
Verstappen, the class of the field in 2025
Look back on Spain and Austria for instance. Had Verstappen not fallen prey to the red mist in Barcelona and settled for a P5 finish, and had he not been taken out by Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Spielberg, he would be leading the Standings heading into Abu Dhabi in a car that's not been up to par with the MCL39. And that idea, with the pace advantage McLaren has boasted throughout the year, is mind-blowing to say the least.
One wonders then, what if Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, George Russell, Charles Leclerc or even Verstappen had been driving the McLaren? The championship would not be going into Abu Dhabi wide open.
A papaya driver could very well be crowned as champion come Abu Dhabi, but it’s Verstappen who will undoubtedly be recognised as the best driver of the 2025 season.
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