Battle for the drivers’ championship: accusations aimed at McLaren’s management
McLaren has come under criticism for how it is handling its drivers during the decisive phase of the Formula 1 season. While the Constructors’ Championship is already secured for Woking, the fight for the Drivers’ title remains wide open. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku nearly turned into a disaster for Oscar Piastri after mistakes both in qualifying and in the race. Luckily for him, Lando Norris was unable to make significant progress through the field and had to settle for seventh place.
The standings now show a 25-point advantage in favor of the Australian. Although the gap looks relatively safe, the growing presence of Max Verstappen is becoming a serious concern. Should Piastri suffer another race with zero points and Red Bull maintain its strong form, Verstappen could suddenly emerge as a real threat to McLaren’s championship hopes.
Criticism of McLaren’s management
In a recent video on his channel, Sky commentator Carlo Vanzini criticized McLaren’s approach to managing its drivers in the title fight. His comments echoed the feelings of many fans who are eager to see a genuine head-to-head battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. According to Vanzini, the team seems more focused on avoiding risks than on letting its drivers fight freely.
“This challenge isn’t exciting. They’ve never allowed them to fight each other directly. When Piastri had those lock-ups in Austria, they immediately split the strategies. You’ve got a world championship battle with two drivers separated by just 25 points, but it doesn’t feel epic — and that’s their fault.”
The errors by Piastri in Baku could have proven very costly, but Norris chose to play it safe and secured only six points. Vanzini added: “Piastri hit the wall twice in qualifying and again in the race, but we haven’t seen the ferocity of a lion that wants to win the championship, except in Max.”
Past incidents
Vanzini also recalled other moments that highlight McLaren’s conservative strategy. Earlier this year at Silverstone, Piastri requested to be let through after what he considered an unfair penalty, while last year in Hungary Norris even gave up a race victory to his teammate. Fans also remember the pit stop error at Monza, which forced the team to manage another position swap.
In each of these cases, McLaren opted for internal management rather than allowing its drivers to fight freely, with the intention of avoiding tensions within the team. However, critics argue that this cautious approach has prevented a truly thrilling intra-team battle — and may yet have consequences in the drivers’ championship fight against Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
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