McLaren warned: “Verstappen is dangerous”. There is no reason to feel safe
McLaren has entered the final third of the Formula 1 season, moving into the long stretch of races outside Europe with a tough result to digest. Oscar Piastri made two or three important mistakes between qualifying and the race, while Lando Norris could only manage seventh place. It was a bitter weekend in Baku, made even worse by Max Verstappen’s victory – his second in a row – which allowed him to close part of the gap to the papaya duo.
Robert Doornbos doubtful: “McLaren makes too many mistakes and Verstappen is more experienced than Piastri”
Much has been said in recent days about the reasons behind this painful setback. Some blamed the weather conditions, others pointed to the fact that Oscar Piastri is still very young. But former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos, commenting on the Grand Prix on ‘Ziggo Sport’, offered another interesting angle: “I found it curious that Oscar Piastri made mistakes at Baku, immediately after Monza. That was the race where they had that strange situation with Oscar Piastri giving up points to Lando because of that slow pit stop. Then, pit stop problems repeated again in Azerbaijan, this time with Norris. It’s clear they need to work on this,” reported ‘GrandPrix.com’.
Pit stop issues, combined with an unclear hierarchy between the two drivers, could give even more advantage to a charging Max Verstappen, who is starting to sense the possibility of a comeback.
According to Robert Doornbos, McLaren has little reason to feel calm: “I spoke with Mark Webber, Oscar Piastri’s manager, and after the mistakes made over the weekend he simply told me that Oscar is human too. We have to remember that he has less experience compared to Max Verstappen. Max is a danger. McLaren makes too many mistakes, both with the drivers and in the pit stops. Abu Dhabi has given us some incredible season finales in the past. However, such a scenario would be quite unique,” he concluded.
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