Oct.19 (GMM) Max Verstappen’s charge back into title contention is forcing McLaren to confront a growing internal dilemma – whether to let Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continue fighting freely, or impose team orders as the stakes rise.
The tension has been building for some time, now culminating in McLaren’s chaotic sprint race double-DNF in Austin – which left Red Bull and Verstappen sensing weakness.
“They’re under pressure, of course,” Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko told Viaplay. “They can’t win the easy way anymore.
“We’ll keep pushing. We’re making them nervous, and that seems to be working.”
Sky Deutschland’s Timo Glock agreed that McLaren’s management now faces its biggest challenge of the season. “These are all issues they have to deal with now,” he said. “And Max Verstappen is only concerned with annoying them.”
Inside McLaren, both the pressure and the parallels are clear. Team CEO Zak Brown acknowledged that the current scenario bears resemblance to the infamous 2007 campaign, when McLaren’s own title duel between Fernando Alonso and rookie Lewis Hamilton allowed Kimi Raikkonen to snatch the championship at the eleventh hour.
“Repeat 2007? It’s a risk, yes,” Brown said.
“If you have two drivers like in 2007, when they were tied on points and Kimi was just ahead at the end of the season – but that’s just how McLaren wants to race. We want two drivers capable of winning the championship.
“On the other hand, if you split the drivers into number 1 and number 2, it jeopardises your participation in the Constructors’ Championship. It’s a difficult sport. We’re racing. We want to race. Our desire is to give both drivers a chance to win the title, and that comes with a certain risk, like in 2007.
“But we’re all aware of that and prepared for the possibility it could lead to a similar outcome.”
Brown also admitted Verstappen’s recent resurgence has made the equation more complex. “I think the situation we’re in now is that Max is too close for comfort,” he said. “We saw what happened in the Netherlands – how quickly things can change. So we’re just focused on this weekend, and we’ll continue to evaluate the results race by race.”
Team principal Andrea Stella struck a more measured tone, saying the team remains focused on performance rather than hierarchy. “We see that Verstappen and Red Bull currently have the best package,” he said. “It took a while for both our drivers to get into the rhythm in qualifying. But that’s not discouraging us.
“We know we can have a good race in these hot temperatures due to tyre degradation. We’re looking forward to racing tomorrow.”
Marko, meanwhile, says Verstappen’s revived motivation has added a dangerous new dimension to the fight. “When we weren’t competitive, Max lost a bit of interest,” he revealed. “He was more into racing GT cars, and to keep him in a good mood, I talked to him about the Nurburgring. But now that the car is working – and he’s had success there – his motivation already adds a couple of tenths.
“He’s enjoying himself, smiling again – and that’s exactly what’s needed. It’s too early to talk about a return to title contention, but this weekend looks promising.”
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