"In 2007, they supported Lewis Hamilton and they were wrong": F1 journalist takes a vicious dig at McLaren's 'tradition'

McLaren’s handling of their two drivers has become a flashpoint as the 2025 Formula 1 season enters the final stretch. After a missed opportunity in Baku, Oscar Piastri still leads the championship, but Max Verstappen is back in the picture. The situation has triggered Spanish journalist Carlos Miquel to criticize the papaya team for repeating an old mistake.

The turning point came in Baku. Verstappen led pole to flag, as Piastri suffered his first DNF of the year after a first-lap crash. Norris, meanwhile, had a difficult weekend. A qualifying error left him seventh on the grid, and he never recovered in the race. That left Piastri’s lead cut to 25 points over Norris, with Verstappen now just 69 behind and seven rounds still to go.

For much of the season, McLaren had resisted intervening, allowing Piastri and Norris to race freely. The Australian’s early momentum, including seven wins, gave him the upper hand. Norris countered with five wins of his own, with inconsistency. But in recent weeks, subtle team calls have tilted in Norris’ favor.

At Monza, when a slow stop dropped him behind Piastri, he was instructed to swap back on track. Similar management cropped up in Hungary, again to Norris’ benefit. That prompted Miquel’s stinging assessment on the Fórmula 1 y Mundo del Motor podcast:

"At McLaren it’s tradition to support the worse driver of the two. In 2007 they supported Hamilton and they were wrong." (35:01 onwards)

The reference carried weight. In 2007, McLaren fielded double world champion Fernando Alonso alongside rookie Lewis Hamilton. The Briton stunned the paddock by leading the standings deep into the year, leaving the papaya team in a conundrum.

Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso during Monaco previews, 2007. Source: Getty

Alonso’s frustration boiled over in Hungary, where he held up Hamilton in the pits after the Briton failed to honor a team instruction to let Alonso pass on track. That internal tension helped Kimi Raikkonen to topple a 16-point deficit in the final five races and win the driver's title for Ferrari.

By linking today’s situation to that year, Miquel suggested McLaren risked repeating history. Oscar Piastri has had a standout campaign with seven wins and 14 podiums, but his margin is shrinking at a dangerous moment. With Verstappen back in winning form, any tilt toward Norris could open the door to Red Bull. For McLaren, the echoes of 2007 feel uncomfortably loud.

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Andrea Stella believes they "need to keep working" as McLaren eyes title in Singapore

Oscar Piastri, Andrea Stella, and Lando Norris at Monza. Source:

The immediate focus now shifts to Singapore on October 5, where McLaren can finally lock up the Constructors’ Championship. With a 333-point cushion over Mercedes, the math is simple: just 13 points on Sunday will be enough. A podium from either Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris would seal it, regardless of what the chasing pack manages.

But the drivers’ battle remains far more delicate. Max Verstappen’s Baku victory tightened the margins, and small errors are magnified. Team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged as much after a costly weekend in Azerbaijan, where a 4.1-second stop for Norris killed any chance of challenging the leaders.

"We need to keep working, because there’s some important performance that is available through pit stops, and we have seen that the racing, if anything, is getting tighter and tighter. So what is the impact of a pit stop now? It gets more and more important. So definitely, for the remainder of the season, and also thinking about next year’s car, there’s work to do," Stella told post race.

That pressure is heightened by the way Papaya manages its own garage. If Norris is indeed given preference, as critics suggest, then a repeat of 2007 cannot be ruled out. Piastri’s stronger record of wins and podium points to him as the safer bet, but if the balance tilts, Verstappen could yet pounce.

McLaren may soon have one championship wrapped up, but the driver’s crown could still slip away.