Could McLaren’s commitment to ‘let them race’ be its downfall in F1 title fight?

The fight at the top of the Formula 1 drivers’ standings is heating up in 2025, with the leading three separated by just 22 points.

First and second is held by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris respectively, but could the team be better at handling the pair to boost its chances of winning a first double championship since 1998 – especially when title holder Max Verstappen remains in the battle. 

So far this year, McLaren is refusing to give preferential treatment to either Piastri or Norris. The pair are on equal footing in terms of strategy and componentry, and each is fighting for their maiden world championship.

This equal footing extends to the pair’s on-track antics, and team orders have rarely played a part in McLaren’s strategy over a grand prix. 

Last year, when Norris was the lead McLaren and had a slim chance of toppling Verstappen for the crown, the Woking squad was initially reluctant to deploy team orders until it truly had to later in the year; boss Andrea Stella had said it was important to maintain the right balance within the squad.

But McLaren now has a genuine possibility of clinching both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, the latter of which it clinched in 2024. So, this indecisive approach over who is its lead driver has led to fears that letting Norris and Piastri race could undo McLaren’s hard work. 

At last weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, for example, the fight between McLaren’s drivers was clear to see when third-placed Norris lined up behind Piastri in second for the late safety car restart. Despite the Briton running on much fresher tyres, Norris revealed that there was “nothing” in terms of team orders to ask Piastri to move out of his way, allowing his McLaren counterpart to chase down Verstappen.

In fact, Piastri himself admitted that he “wasn’t gonna give up without a fight”, despite feeling that it was “inevitable” Norris would overtake him on fresh rubber.  

“It was tricky,” the Australian said, as Norris eventually overtook with five laps remaining at the Tamburello chicane. “I tried my best to hang on but yeah, just didn’t have the grip and I tried my best.”  

So far, the fighting on track hasn’t ended in disaster. The pair hasn’t come together in spectacular style like Mercedes rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton did at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, or likewise with Red Bull pair Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo at Baku in 2018. 

But this doesn’t mean that the fierce battle isn’t affecting the team’s chances of taking both titles. Had Piastri let Norris past sooner, the Briton would have had more time to try and catch Verstappen – even though Stella reckons the world champion was in another league.

“We attempted to unlock various scenarios to try and beat Max,” said Stella. “But at no stage I think we saw that we had enough race pace. 

“Even with the final safety car, Lando could pass Oscar and try to push as much as possible. Pretty much Max was responding to Lando. So here to overtake you need seven, eight tenths of a second, so I think it’s what it is. The main factor remains the swap of position and the outcome of lap one [when Verstappen overtook Piastri for the lead].” 

But as Norris then failed to pass Verstappen, should McLaren have told him to give second back to Piastri? After all, Piastri is leading the standings and is, in some eyes, the favourite to win this year’s crown.  

Currently, Norris and Piastri are sat on 133 and 146 points respectively. However, if McLaren had thrown its weight behind one driver from the start and ordered a change in result so that its lead driver was ahead, the difference in their tallies would be greater.  

“You’ve got two drivers that are fighting for a world championship,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

“At some point, self-interest will always outweigh team interest. That’s the conflict. So, they did a good job to not make contact. It was commendable that they were allowed to race, but you could see it got pretty close. 

Next time out in Monaco, the stakes will be even higher as both drivers will be chasing a first prestigious win in the principality. 

What’s more, the tight city streets mean that any attempted move could go south very quickly and, should that happen, the path will be clear for Verstappen to swoop in and take the lead of the standings.  

While Verstappen lacks a team-mate to support Red Bull’s challenge for the constructors’ crown, he’s now within a race win (25 points) of Piastri in the championship.  

Should a gap open thanks to scrapping at McLaren, Verstappen is the type of driver who will lunge for any opening and never let it go.