McLaren boss Andrea Stella is adamant it won’t prioritise Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris unless one is no longer in mathematical contention to take the Formula 1 title.
Max Verstappen has admitted that he now spies the chance to retain his crown as an impressive weekend in the United States saw him win the Sprint and Grand Prix.
The Dutchman has reduced the gap to championship leader Oscar Piastri, who struggled to fifth, to 40 points, with Lando Norris only 14 points behind his team-mate.
With the momentum now with Verstappen and Red Bull, there have been suggestions that McLaren should put all its eggs in one basket to guarantee it grabs the title.
But while the team is under no illusion about the threat Verstappen poses with three victories in four races, McLaren remains unwilling to hedge its bets on one name.
Stella pointed out how there have been examples such as Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and Sebastian Vettel in 2010 when the outsider at the last race has stolen the glory.
“The fact that there are five races and two Sprints means that we can also increase the gap to Max, that’s how I see things,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“We have good tracks coming for our car and I think we have more that we could have exploited out of our car and to some extent, the drivers, I think, they recognise themselves that they could have done a better job in some of the previous races.
“So I think we look at the next five races as opportunities to increase the gap on Max and, when it comes to having to make a call as to a driver, this will only be led by mathematics.
“We talked before about the experience and leaning on the experience, I can recall at least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it’s actually the third that wins the championship.
“So we are not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics.”
McLaren approach unchanged despite Verstappen threat
With no upgrades in the pipeline, Stella has acknowledged McLaren is dependent on the upcoming venues being more suitable to the MCL39 to stem Red Bull’s wave.
“The danger for me is the same as there was in Baku,” the Italian added.
“Something we said yesterday, in which I said very clearly in capital letter that Max was in the contest for the drivers’ championship.
“When I say something, I mean it. It’s not like, if I say it, I think it’s because of the experience, it’s because of understanding the trend, understanding the circuits that we were going to face from Baku onwards.
“For me, there’s no mystery. We know that when Max has the material to win, he becomes a very serious candidate to win.
“So it doesn’t change what our understanding of the situation is. It doesn’t change what we do.
“We just have to keep maximising the performance and keep executing good weekends.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri vows he remains F1 title favourite despite lean run
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