Max Verstappen has vowed that he “wouldn’t have rocked up” in Oscar Piastri’s position had McLaren tried to assign him to a support role in the Formula 1 title battle.
Verstappen has capitalised on Red Bull’s astonishing late-season renaissance to still be in contention to win the Drivers’ Championship in 2025 with two events to go.
The Dutchman enters the penultimate race in Qatar level with Piastri on 366 points, but 24 points behind Lando Norris, who could seal the deal in Lusail this weekend.
Piastri had long held top spot in the standings, even possessing a 34-point lead at one stage, but a wretched six-race run without a podium has unravelled his title bid.
But despite Verstappen’s threat being more prominent than ever, McLaren has addressed that it is remaining committed to delivering both drivers equal opportunities.
Verstappen has acknowledged that outcome will work to his advantage, though he is adamant that McLaren’s call not to ask Piastri to assist Norris is the correct one.
“It’s perfect!” Verstappen remarked to media including Motorsport Week.
“I think you can’t do a better job than allowing them to race as well, because why would you suddenly now say that Oscar wouldn’t be allowed anymore?
“If that was said to me I would have not rocked up. I would have told him to ‘F off’. So yeah, if you’re a real winner in a race, as a driver, then you go for it – even if you’re behind.
“What’s the point otherwise to turning up? Otherwise you can easily just label yourself as a number two driver which I think he doesn’t want to be.
“Then for me, I know that I’m equal on points with Oscar.
“Like I said before, a lot still needs to go right, but I think it should be like that, that they are free to race and hopefully we can make it a great battle until the end.”
Verstappen vows McLaren had ‘no excuse’ for rules breach
Verstappen’s quest to prolong his stint as World Champion received an additional boost post-race in Las Vegas last weekend when both McLaren cars were excluded.
When asked where he was when he discovered the news, Verstappen, who won the race at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, answered: “I was flying home.
“I knew of course there was some kind of investigation going into the plank and when it’s too low, it’s too low.
“There’s so much that you can argue about that. Of course every team always runs it as low as they possibly can and sometimes you get it right.
“Sometimes it’s a bit harder to measure, but there’s no excuse. When you’re too low, it’s too low. Same with other rules in the sport, unfortunately it’s like that.”
But while he has recognised that McLaren’s violation has given him less ground to make up, Verstappen has stressed that Red Bull’s approach will remain unchanged.
“Of course the gap closed a bit with that, but [it’s] still 24 points,” he cautioned.
“A lot needs to go well until the end to have a chance, but it’s definitely a better chance than what it was before that.
“So we take it, but you need to also be aware that even if you win everything you still need a bit of luck. So we’ll see how that goes.
“For us nothing changes. We go all in. We have nothing to lose.”
READ MORE – How McLaren & Lando Norris are treating increased Max Verstappen F1 title threat
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