Following the recent US Grand Prix, McLaren find themselves under pressure in the drivers’ title race from a resurgent Red Bull Racing and world champion Max Verstappen. Since late August, the Dutch driver has closed the gap on leader Oscar Piastri from 104 points to just 40 with five Grand Prix and two Sprints remaining.
McLaren state almost weekly that their so called ‘papaya rules’ will be enforced rigidly to the point that a move by Lando Norris in Singapore which the stewards treated as a racing incident went to the Woking tribunal of big wigs. The result, Norris has been penalised with unspecified “consequences” for the remainder of the season.
Now theta are in a bit of a bind given in the Sprint in Austin, their other driver cause mayhem at the start taking out three cars including himself and team mate Lando Norris. Again the stewards treated the matter as a racing incident but Piastri will surely now have to face the same panel of McLaren judges to learn his fate for the remainder of the season.
Verstappen mocks McLaren management
Zak Brown and Andrea Stella have been ridiculed in the media for their micro management of their drivers while claiming they “are free to race.” On hearing of Norris fate for merely doing what a racing driver should do, Max Verstappen mocked the McLaren management. “They kind of created this themselves by trying so hard to make everything equal,” he observed.
Max went on to illustrate that in F1 and in life all is not fair and equal as Norris experienced in Zandvoort when his Mercedes gave up the ghost due to a faulty hose fitted by the McLaren mechanics. Dodgy pitstops are also just part of racing, although McLaren insisted Piastri give a place back to his team mate in Monza due to five second pitstop mistake the British driver suffered during his final stop of the race.
Attempting to legislate equality, Vertsappen implied, is about as effective as putting an umbrella over a hurricane. The Dutchman even outlined his own simple solution to McLaren’s balancing act: ‘just drive faster’. “If I were there,” he grinned, “we wouldn’t be that close in points anyway,” mocked the world champion.
Red Bull caught, McLaren furious: FIA intervenes after action against Norris during US GP
Brown discusses how the losing driver should affect celebrations
Such is the concern from the team to meet each drivers’ needs and expect rations equally, they revealed in August that conversations will take place around what happens in the event of one winning the championship and how that effects the other.
“We’re fully aware and sensitive to how you celebrate that situation. And I think we’ll just sit down with the drivers and come to an agreement: ‘One of you is not going to be the champion. How do you want us to act?’ That’s the way we think. It comes back to thinking about our people,” revealed Zak Brown.
After being involved in Formula One since the 1970’s this writer has never heard of such nonsense in an a cutting edge sport where rivalry’s are meant to be fierce. Its always been the way that the winner takes it all. Its fine that the woking based team decide not to have a number one and number two driver and every fan respects them for that, but to interfere with specific on track moves made in a split second and at high speed is truly remarkable and suggests the team are naive in handling such matters. After all its been almost twenty years since Lewis Hamilton won their last drivers’ title.
In Austin, Texas, Zak brown was reminded of the 2007 season where McLaren let their drivers fight to the last race, and were piped by Kimi Raikonnen to the title by a single point. The Ferrari driver was in third place going into the race in Sao Paulo. When pressed if refusing to back one of his drivers for the championship could recreate this scenario again, the McLaren CEO leaned back and remarkably sighed, “so be it.”
Franco Colapinto’s quiet resurgence
Stella appears delusional to the facts
Now the team confirm they will not back one or other of their drivers in an attempt to prevent Verstappen from claiming a record fifth consecutive championship. With Max closing in like a German Messerschmitt fighter plane, McLaren team principal is refusing to recognise the potential disaster looming ahead.
“The fact that there are five races and two Sprints means that we can also increase the gap to Max, that’s how I see things,” Stella explained to journalists in Texas. “We have good tracks coming for our car and I think we have more that we could have exploited out of our car and to some extent, the drivers, I think, they recognise themselves that they could have done a better job in some of the previous races.
“So I think we look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Max and, when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics. We talked before about the experience and leaning on the experience, I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it’s actually the third that wins the championship.
“So we are not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics,” Stella concluded. Yet the reality is that the recent Grand prix at the circuit of the America’s should have been a ‘McLaren track’ yet in qualifying Norris was nowhere near close to pole sitter Max Verstappen. The car’s race pace was poor on Sunday as Lando struggled to pass the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc whose SF-25 should have been suffering in the intense heat where the McLaren car thrives.
Mexico not a happy hunting ground for McLaren
This coming weekend’s race in Mexico City has never proven a happy hunting ground for McLaren in the modern era. Oscar Piastri has struggled on Sunday on both occasions he has raced their finishing just eight each time. Brazil is cited by McLaren as one of their favoured tracks, yet again this race weekend has been dominated by Verstappen and Mercedes since 2018.
The cool evening in the desert of Navada, will again favour the Mercedes cars and Verstappen, also Ferrari have proven to be strong in Sin City since the inaugural race back in 2023. Whilst McLaren have been able to almost guarantee top three finishes for both of their drivers, Ferrari’s resurgence and Russell’s win in Singapore mean this is no longer the case. Were Piastri to repeat his eighth place finishes in Mexico, a Verstappen win and a Norris P2 would see Lando level on points with his team mate and Verstappen just 21 points in areas.
The problem for McLaren is who should they prioritise should push come to shove. Of course Piastri is fourteen points ahead of his team mate but his from since Zandvoort in August has been woeful. His 34 point lead of Norris has been slashed in just four race weekends and Vertsappen at the same time has cut his deficit to the Aussie by a massive 64 points.
For the fans and advertisers, the hope in Mexico is that Piastri will continue with his troubles on track at altitude and the title race become even closer for the final run in of four race weekends. McLaren have nailed their colours to the mast and their leading management duo like Laurel and Hardy are even prepared to shoot themselves in the foot to ensure fairness amongst their drivers – something Ron Dennis bitterly regrets to this day when he oversaw the battle between the McLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso back in 2007.
Red Bull Verstappen team mate decision announced
The delightful return of F1 mind games
The loss of Formula One’s longest serving team boss in July has robbed Formula One of one of its last standing pantomime villains, as under the ever PR cautious Liberty Media the stories off track are becoming ever sterile, corporate and dull.
Where’s the Michael Schumacher storming down the pit lane to try and trying to land a punch on arch rival Damon Hill? Why do we not have two McLaren drivers’ duking it out in the media and on track as did Hamilton and Rosberg?
Fans now have more access to the teams and drivers than ever before, but besides the on track rivalries the back stories to F1 are becoming ever more lacking in interest. In. Austin Texas despite the fact the battle was for P17, Franco Colapitno defied team orders and overtook his team mate and was in fact justified given Gasly subsequently couldn’t keep Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoletto at bay…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
Perfect example of go woke go broke, for some reason they want to give their drivers participation trophies. If I was a sponsor I would be livid. Id want my name on the winning car. If your second you are merely 1st of the losers