McLaren warned about tough decision amid Max Verstappen threat

McLaren have been warned they may have to favour Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris if Max Verstappen makes it a three-way F1 title battle.

That is the view of 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, who believes McLaren could face a difficult decision if Verstappen continues to close the gap on Piastri and Norris.

Verstappen claimed his second consecutive victory - and fourth of the 2025 season - with a dominant performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to close his championship deficit to Piastri from 104 points to 69 points.

Championship leader Piastri crashed out in an uncharacteristically error-strewn weekend while Norris could only finish seventh as Verstappen gained significant ground on both McLaren drivers.

The result leaves Piastri just 25 points ahead of Norris with seven races still remaining.

“The issue for Lando Norris is if Max Verstappen gets closer and closer at some point the team will have to start favouring Piastri, and make him number 1,” Villeneuve told OLBG.

“Then suddenly the championship fight will not be against a teammate anymore but will be against a driver from a different team and a tough one. And the best driver in the world.

“Norris is in a really tough position now.”

Villeneuve added: “Azerbaijan has actually kept or put Verstappen in the hunt and Verstappen doesn't crack under pressure and he will put an extreme amount of pressure on the two McLaren drivers and the team.

“It’s a pressure that's very, very tough to deal with in the Max situation, he's behind, he sees where they are. He knows exactly where he has to go. It's easy. But when you're ahead, you can't see what's happening behind. You’re tempted to look behind but you can’t afford to.

“Red Bull have turned things around and they're great under pressure. They're great fighters. And McLaren has shown last year that they're not. They know that internally.

“The drivers know that, so that's why they feel the heat. Max is right. And the fact that he says that will just add to the pressure. It just starts colouring the picture.”

Verstappen refuses to rule out F1 title bid

Just a handful of races ago it looked as though Verstappen had no chance of retaining his crown and winning a fifth straight drivers’ world title.

But after winning back-to-back races for the first time in over a year amid a revival in form for Red Bull, Verstappen appears to have once again entered the F1 title chat.

The Dutchman has refused to rule out challenging for the championship, though he insisted he doesn’t “rely on hope”, admitting such a feat is “very tough”.

"Seven races to go and it's still 69 points, it's a lot," he told Sky Sports F1. "Basically, everything needs to go perfect from my side and then a bit of luck from their side I need as well. So it's still very tough.”

Speaking later in the FIA post-race press conference, Verstappen added: "I don't rely on hope, so I personally don't think about it.

“I just go race by race, what I have been doing basically the whole season - just trying to do the best we can, try to score the most points that we can. Then after Abu Dhabi, we'll know."