McLaren admit Max Verstappen 'absolutely' in F1 title battle

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella has said that Max Verstappen is 'absolutely' in a world championship battle with his two drivers.

Oscar Piastri's retirement on the first lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix meant that he scored zero points last weekend, while his team-mate Lando Norris only managed to score six after finishing seventh.

Max Verstappen, meanwhile, secured his second successive grand prix victory to move to within just 69 points of championship leader Piastri, and 44 points of Norris.

Despite McLaren having dominated in 2025 - they've claimed seven one-twos across the year and are likely to wrap up the constructors' title in Singapore next time out - Verstappen has managed to win four races so far this year.

With seven race weekends remaining in the season, Verstappen still has an outside chance of securing a record-equalling fifth consecutive world championship title.

Now, Stella has released a public warning to his drivers, suggesting that Verstappen is in the title battle, and that it is not a foregone conclusion that the champion will be a McLaren driver.

"Do I still consider Verstappen a contender? Absolutely," Stella told F1 media during the Azerbaijan GP weekend. "Write that in capital letters. We've already concluded internally that Red Bull's victory in Monza two weeks ago shouldn't be considered an exception. They arrived there with a new floor, and perhaps they're setting up their car slightly differently.

"We mustn't forget that they have Max Verstappen at their disposal, and it's not for nothing that he won the championship four times in a row. And as I've said before, there will certainly be races where McLaren doesn't have a competitive advantage."

McLaren seeking championship double

McLaren only need to score 13 points in Singapore next time outto wrap up their second successive title with six events to spare.

But the team want more than that, and are desperate for either Norris or Piastri to become the first McLaren driver to win a drivers' championship title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Piastri still holds a hefty lead over both Norris and Verstappen, but his three huge mistakes made throughout the Azerbaijan GP weekend may just have given his rivals hope that he is not unflappable.

Not having had the experience of losing out to the imperious Verstappen before may just work in Piastri's favour, with Norris having been beaten to the 2024 title by the Dutchman.

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