McLaren slammed for double standards – The eve of the decider in the desert is upon us and Formula One will see its first three way fight for the drivers’ title since 2010 when Sebastian Vettel claimed the first of his four championships.
Statistically that year there were four drivers who cold mathematically win the title, but with Lewis Hamilton 23 points behind his nemesis Fernando Alonso and both Mark Webber and Vettel ahead of him, it required some kind of epic disaster for the three for Hamilton to have a chance.
The last time there were exactly three drivers in the hunt, was famously in 2007, where the McLaren duo headed Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, but it was the Ice Man who prevailed, leaving Alonso and Hamilton equal on points and a single point behind the Ferrari driver.
F1 History suggests Norris is on the back. foot
The 2010 finale in Abu Dhabi saw Vettel come from 15 points behind Alonso to win, but the was mostly due to Ferrari’s poor strategy when they pitted their driver early to cover off an ‘off strategy’ pit stop from Mark Webber.
With no DRS on the cars, Fernando came out behind Vitaly Petrov in a Renault and a combination of the lack of tyre degradation and a punchy French power unit saw Alonso trail home behind the Russian driver in just seventh place.
History suggests whilst Lando has a 12 point lead over his nearest rival and is 16 points clear of his team mate, the driver leading going into an F1 title race decider has rarely fared well. Since 1970 there have been 6 three way battles at the final Grand Prix of the year and only one has been won any the driver leading.
Emerson Fittipaldi headed up Clay Regazzoni, and Jody Scheckter. Fittipaldi and he won the championship in a relatively uneventful decider. But in 1981, Carlos Reutemann struggled in the race, handing the title to Nelson Piquet.
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Two years later Alain Prost was to lose out to Piquet om the final day and Nigel Mansell in 1986 would fail to retain his championship lead as famously a tyre on his Williams exploded at over 200mph in Adelaide. Post was the beneficiary.
Then of course there was 2007 and 2010 and now 15 years on Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri will slug it out in a fascinating weekend of on track action. Piastri will suffer the handicap of having to hand over his car to McLaren junior driver Indycar star, Pato O’Ward who last appeared in the papaya F1 car in Mexico City.
McLaren have insisted all season they will not issues their drivers with team orders – except of course they did in Monza, when Norris who was ahead of his team mate suffered a slow pit stop and emerged behind Piastri. The Aussie was told to hand back the place, he grumbled this scenario had been discussed and that a slow tyre change was part of racing.
Oscar then relented without too much bother, but McLaren left themselves exposed to criticism for breaking their own ‘papaya rules,’ which allows the drivers to race freely.
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Brown said if 2007 happens again – ‘so be it’
Back in Sao Paulo, Zak Brown was asked what lengths he was prepared go to in an effort to prevent Verstaoppen stealing the titles from one of his drivers. The McLaren CEO was adamant.
“I’d rather go – ‘we did the best we could with our drivers tied in points, and the other beat us by one,’ than the alternative – telling one of our drivers right now, when they’re one point apart, ‘I know you have a dream to win the world championship, but we flipped a coin and you don’t get to do it this year.’ Forget it!
“That’s not how we go racing. If 2007 happens again, I’d rather have that outcome than any other that involves playing favourites – we won’t do it.” Brown even went on to state he would shake Verstappen’s hand were he to win the championship.
McLaren boss shifts the goal posts
But Max was then a distant 36 points behind the McLaren duo and with just four race weekends to go. Now Verstappen is just 12 behind Norris and 4 ahead of Piastri and it appears McLaren may have changed their tune in regards to team orders in Abu Dhabi.
As reported by Sky Germany this week, McLaren team boss in long winded Italian fashion had this to say: “I think that every decision we make regarding our drivers’ collaboration must adhere to some of our core principles, which are fundamental to our approach.”
For collaboration read: ‘one driver helping the other to win the title.’ Stella continues to talk about fairness to each driver revealing there will be “discussions with Lando and Oscar before Abu Dhabi. We will confirm our approach to racing, but I can definitely say that we will respect it if one of the drivers is in a position to win the title.”
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Again the meaning is buried in Anglo-Italain speak from Stella. While confirming his drivers are free to race, if one is in with a shot of claiming the title – McLaren will respect that. It kind of means in a roundabout way, getting the other to help them.
This is a far cry from comments made by Zak Brown who stated in September, they wold be discussing with both drivers how they wold prefer the team celebrate, if their team mate became world champion. Whilst there a re a number of permutations on how each of the contenders can win, the realistic prospect depends on Verstappen leading the race and a Mercedes or two bring in the mix up front.
Then if Piastri was running third with Norris behind him, switching places would prevent Verstappen from claiming a record fifth consecutive championship. Of course the same would apply if the McLaren duo were further down the pecking order, the switch would give Lando the opportunity to hunt down the car ahead in his bid to finish the race in third place – which is enough for him to be champion.
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Russell criticises McLaren possible U-Turn
However, this switch in the McLaren propaganda has attracted some attention in the paddock, as GPDA director George Russell criticised the Woking based team for even considering asking one driver to help the other.
“I don’t think it’s acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who also has a shot of the championship in the very last race to move over for your team-mate,” Russell said in Abu Dhabi.
“I think if it’s in other seasons gone by, let’s say Checo [Perez] and Max [at Red Bull] or, you know, [Rubens] Barrichello and [Michael] Schumacher [at Ferrari], clearly when one driver is going for the championship and the guy who doesn’t have a shot of winning the championship moves over, that is absolutely reasonable – I think every single driver would do that.
“But for me, I don’t think it would be fair at all [this year]. I think they both need to be given a shot.”
Lando Norris was asked how the team were handling the matter, he replied that they haven’t yet had the discussions but hopes Oscar would help him if the scenario arose, confirming he would do the same of the boot was on the other foot.
Verstappen SLAMS FUA ground effect regulatory era
Max Verstappen has won the Formula one drivers’ title in each the first three years of the current set of FIA regulated ‘ground effect’ cars. He may yet make a clean sweep of it on Sunday before the cars first conceived in 2022 are retired forever.
One of the key reasons for the FIA looking to a style of F1 car design first seen in the late 1970’s was to solve the interminable problem of the ‘dirty air’ which the aerodynamics of an F1creates, which disturbs the aerodynamics of a car following closely behind.
These vortices, which can be seen on the spray thrown up when the track is wet disturb the airflow across a following car, which in turn creates a loss of downforce and in turn damages the tyres of the car behind…. READ MORE
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.
