Verstappen calls shift in McLaren battle and Piastri’s F1 dip “very bizarre”

Max Verstappen admits he needs “a lot of luck” to turn around the 2025 Formula 1 title fight in his favour, while also suggesting that the change in momentum in McLaren’s intra-team championship fight is “very bizarre”.

The Dutchman has more than halved his deficit to the top of the F1 standings since the Dutch GP, but believes the “real picture” means it is not enough to dethrone McLaren – unless chaos or fortune intervenes. 

“I think closing the gap that quickly has happened partly because all circumstances came together,” Verstappen said ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. “They made a few mistakes after the summer break or had a crash, while we had some good races in which everything came together. Yeah, then you can gain very quickly.” 

However, the race weekends in Mexico and Brazil reminded Verstappen that such gains aren’t a given: “At some point, you come back to reality and know that it won’t go like that everywhere. But at least we’ve been on the podium the last couple of races, and that’s already a lot more consistent than what it was from mid-2024 to mid-2025. So, in the end it’s still positive.” 

In the period Verstappen refers to, the internal McLaren battle has flipped completely. After Lando Norris’ engine failure in Zandvoort, Oscar Piastri looked on course for his first world title – yet that picture has changed dramatically in recent weeks. 

“I have no explanation for that to be honest. I find it very bizarre,” Verstappen said, when asked by Autosport. “I didn’t expect it to go like this, although at the end of the day it’s not really my problem.” 

“It’s not really my problem” – Max Vestappen wades into the McLaren title fight 

Photo by: Chris Graythen / Getty Images

When noted during the Dutch media session that Piastri didn’t suddenly forget how to drive, Verstappen continued: “No, I don’t think so. But honestly, I also don’t know how this is possible.” 

Jos Verstappen recently said Piastri – or his manager Mark Webber – should “slam their fist on the table” during this difficult part of the season. It underlines that Verstappen himself wouldn’t have handled such a situation in the same way. 

“No, but I think that has to do with how they operate as a team as well,” Verstappen said. “That’s not how I operate. But that’s fine, everyone does their own thing. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I am a bit different in that regard. 

“I don’t know what has happened or what hasn’t happened, so it’s difficult for me to judge. But I would probably have been a bit more annoyed, I think, when you’re that far ahead and suddenly that far behind.” 

For Piastri, the situation got worse in Brazil when he received an unfortunate penalty. Carlos Sainz called that penalty “unacceptable”, while McLaren felt Antonelli was equally to blame for the incident but accepted the decision after the race.

Verstappen admits Red Bull would have been more vocal, although ultimately the effect is the same. 

“Yeah, I don’t know why they handled it like that. In the end, you can be angry about it, but the penalty will still stand anyway. You just have to live with it. If you have a problem with that, then you need to contact the stewards or the FIA and maybe you can talk about it for the future.” 

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Verstappen “not going to cry” if he doesn’t win the championship 

If Verstappen fails to win a fifth consecutive title himself this year, he says he’ll be able to put it into perspective pretty quickly. It would mark the end of an era of dominance, but the Dutchman doesn’t want to dramatise that. 

“No, I’ll still go on holiday! I’m pretty good at putting things into perspective and letting things go. I’m not going to cry about it.” 

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– The Autosport.com Team