McLaren boss addresses prioritizing Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris as Max Verstappen's threat becomes ominous

Andrea Stella believes that McLaren will not designate a title favorite unless one of their drivers is mathematically out of contention. Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, after the 2025 US Grand Prix in Austin, the Italian team principal emphasised that the team’s primary focus remains on extending their lead over Max Verstappen.

Verstappen has clawed back 25 points from Oscar Piastri over the US GP weekend alone. The Dutchman now has more than just a mathematical chance of mounting a serious title challenge. After securing pole position for both the sprint and main race, Verstappen went on to win both events, clinching another grand slam in the process. He now trails Piastri by 40 points and Lando Norris by 26, with two sprints and five full races still to go. The question now is whether McLaren will eventually be forced to back one driver over the other.

When asked by Sportskeeda about this possibility, Stella dismissed the idea of naming a title favourite just yet, despite Verstappen’s resurgence. He believes there is still untapped potential in the car and plenty of opportunities to come in the final five rounds. The McLaren boss also feels that several of the upcoming circuits could play to the team’s strengths, offering a chance to rebuild their buffer over the four-time world champion.

Asked by Sportskeeda if Verstappen’s resurgence would force McLaren to choose a favourite between Piastri and Norris, Stella said:

“Well, the fact that there are five races and two means that we can also increase the gap to Max. That's how I see things. I think we have good tracks coming for our car and I think we have more that we could have exploited out of our car. To some extent, the drivers themselves, I think they recognise themselves that they could have done a better job as some of the previous races."

He continued:

"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 that by mathematics. We talked before about the experience and leaning on the experience, I can recall it least 2007, 2010, in which you go to the last race and it's actually the third that wins the championship. So we're not going to close the door unless this is closed by mathematics.”

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Andrea Stella has ruled out the possibility of McLaren bringing upgrades to counter the Red Bull

Andrea Stella confirmed that McLaren will not introduce any further upgrades to counter the resurgence of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Reflecting on the weekend, the Italian felt that the absence of a proper shakedown run in Austin compromised their confidence with the car’s setup. Despite this, he maintained that McLaren had enough pace to fight for victory.

The analysis of the weekend suggested that the Woking team may have opted for a slightly higher ride height, adopting a conservative approach that contributed to the performance gap between themselves and Red Bull. According to Stella, the team believed they had the pace to challenge Verstappen in Austin, but their chances were hindered by a double retirement in the sprint race. He further asserted that McLaren will not bring any additional upgrades or components for the remaining five rounds of the season, regardless of the ongoing championship battle.

Asked if they planned to bring upgrades or parts to counter Verstappen and Red Bull, Stella replied:

“Well, first of all, I think in terms of the trend today is a relatively reassuring race, because I think without having to fight with Charles, which was a certainly an entertaining fight itself, I think Lando at the pace to win the race today, obviously, he needed to gain the position on track, which is never easy with Max, and with a one stop strategy, not necessarily, we would have had many opportunities for strategic point of view, But performance wise, I think we are reassured that the pace was sufficient to fight for the victory."

He added:

"Like I have explained to some of your colleagues as well, I think not having done the sprint race, left us a little bit on the back foot from a setup point of view, and in inside, we can see already that there was more performance that we could have extracted from the car. But when it comes to new upgrades, new parts, then this will not happen for the rest of the season.”

Oscar Piastri leads teammate Lando Norris in the Drivers’ Championship by 14 points, with Max Verstappen a further 40 points behind. The gap between Norris and Verstappen now stands at just 26 points. Before the Monza weekend, the Australian held a commanding 109-point advantage over the reigning world champion. However, in the last four race weekends alone, Verstappen has clawed back 66 points from the lead.

With two more sprint weekends and five Grands Prix still to go, the key question is whether McLaren can maintain a performance edge over Red Bull’s RB21, a car that has effectively ironed out its weaknesses since the Monza upgrade.