Max Verstappen believes McLaren is taking the right approach by letting its drivers continue to fight for the title ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, even if this benefits his own chances.
Lando Norris leads both Oscar Piastri and Verstappen by 24 points entering the penultimate round of the season, meaning he will become champion if he scores better on both by two points or one point and wins Sunday’s race. Piastri says McLaren have had “a brief discussion” over team orders and that he does not want to help Norris at this stage as he is still in title contention, with Verstappen backing that call.
“It’s perfect, I think,” said Verstappen. “You can’t do better than letting them race too. Because why would you suddenly say that Oscar shouldn’t be allowed anymore? I mean, if that were said to me, I wouldn’t have been shocked. I would have told them to hurry up!”
“If you’re a real winner and a racer as a driver, you go for it even if you’re behind. I mean, what else is the point of showing up? Otherwise you can easily label yourself as a number two driver, which I don’t think he wants to be.”
“I know I’m tied with Oscar on points. There’s still a lot to go right. But I think it has to be that way, that they’re free to race and hopefully we can make it a good battle until the end.”
Verstappen spoke to the media in Qatar for the first time since learning that both McLarens had been disqualified from the final race in Las Vegas, cutting his deficit to Norris from 42 points to 24 points, but he says Red Bull’s approach will not change despite being within a race win of the championship lead.
“I flew home. I knew there was some sort of investigation going on into the plank, and if the plank is too low, it’s too low. There’s not much to argue about that.”
“Of course, every team always runs it as low as possible and sometimes you get it right. Sometimes it’s a little harder to measure, but there’s no excuse. If you’re too low, it’s too low. The same goes for other rules in the sport. Unfortunately, that’s true.
“Of course, that closes the gap a bit, but still 24 points. A lot still has to go right until the end to have a chance, but it’s certainly a better chance than before, so we’ll take it. But you also have to be aware that even if you win everything, you still need a bit of luck, right?
“So we’ll see how that goes. Nothing changes for us. We’re going all in. We have nothing to lose.”
#Verstappen #supports #McLarens #rejection #team #orders #RACER