McLaren boss Andrea Stella has revealed Max Verstappen’s serious title threat in Formula 1 contributed to the call to remove its repercussions against Lando Norris.
With three victories in the past four races, Verstappen is now a recognised championship challenger as he trails 40 points behind Oscar Piastri with five rounds to go.
Verstappen’s upswing has coincided with upgrades that have enhanced the RB21, which he has capitalised on, alongside the intra-team squabbling down at McLaren.
Last weekend’s United States Grand Prix saw the McLaren drivers be wiped out in a crash in the Sprint Race, allowing Verstappen to gain eight points apiece on them.
Following a review, McLaren’s view that Piastri could have avoided the collision cancelled out the move in Singapore that had seen it impose consequences on Norris.
However, Stella has admitted that McLaren’s desire to ensure that it seals a coveted title double also had a hand in the decision to head to Mexico with a “clean slate”.
“As usual, we review things, team, drivers, in a very open way, in a very constructive way,” the Italian told media including Motorsport Week.
“We thought the best approach moving forward was to start with a clean slate and focus in the only direction on which we want to focus: to make sure that the championship is papaya.
“All the rest is less important and there’s somebody that is coming with great momentum.
“Our mission is to stop this momentum and bring back the momentum to the papaya side.”
McLaren would be ‘stupid’ to overlook Verstappen
Meanwhile, McLaren CEO Zak Brown has expressed the team would be “stupid” not to treat Verstappen as a contender, but he ruled out prioritising Piastri over Norris.
“I thought for a long time that Max would go to Mercedes after this season, but that’s not going to happen,” he said to De Telegraaf.
“In fact, lately it’s not about Verstappen’s future at all. That also says something about his and Red Bull’s performance and how good he feels.
“Max seems to be better than ever at the moment. So of course we take him very seriously in the title fight. It would be very stupid not to do that.
“We have always said that we will let them race with each other, as long as it is fair and respectful to each other.
“You don’t stop incidents in this sport, but it’s about how you solve them together.
“We don’t suddenly choose one of the two drivers. We may only do that when it is mathematically no longer possible for one person to become champion.”
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