The McLaren F1 team landed their first Formula One 1-2 finish in more than a decade. However, the celebrations for Oscar Piastri’s maiden victory were surprisingly muted.
On the podium, Lando Norris hung his head while his teammate celebrated, looking to the skies as if in thanks. Norris had finally followed team orders, allowing Piastri to take the victory. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen and Red Bull head to the Belgian Grand Prix, and it’s noteworthy because it’s the first time the world champion has been winless for three consecutive race weekends since 2022.
Red Bull is facing a rough patch, with Verstappen openly criticizing his team during the last race. Many believe that but for bad team calls and poor strategy, Norris could have won the last five races. If that had been the case, Norris would have a victory tally of six, just one behind the current leader, Verstappen.
The team orders from McLaren cost Norris 7 points. This means the gap between him and Verstappen would have been reduced from 76 to 69 points. With eleven races remaining, Norris needs to outscore Verstappen by an average of 6.9 points per race. Given Red Bull’s recent performance issues, this is no longer an impossible task. Verstappen has only managed two P5’s and a P2 in the last three Grand Prix, amounting to 38 points out of a possible 78.
Norris remains optimistic. He stated, ‘You would be silly to say ‘no’’ to the possibility of winning the championship. He is well aware of the uphill battle, acknowledging that many believe he has no chance. However, he is determined to fight on, especially given Max and Red Bull’s recent performance issues. ‘It is a big stretch but I’m not going to say ‘no’ to the challenge,’ he added.
Red Bull, on the other hand, is seeing unprecedented challenges. Verstappen had several heated exchanges with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase during the race, starting from lap one. Max accused his team of poor strategy and car setup, especially after a late collision with Lewis Hamilton. When ordered to give a place back to Norris, Max sarcastically told his engineer, ‘OK, so you can just run people off the track then?’
Things didn’t get better for Verstappen as the race progressed. On lap 38, after failing to pass Hamilton for third place, Verstappen blamed the team for poor car setup, saying, ‘I’m minus five brake bias and the thing just doesn’t f—–g turn.’ His engineer, Lambiase, wasn’t amused and called out Verstappen for not following tire management instructions. Verstappen retorted, ‘Don’t give me that s— now. You guys gave me this s— strategy.’
The tension reached a peak when Verstappen collided with Hamilton late in the race. Blaming Hamilton for the incident, Verstappen suggested his foe hadn’t left enough space. Lambiase, however, disagreed, stating, ‘I think you were behind at the apex, Max.’ This didn’t sit well with Verstappen, who fired back: ‘OK, whatever then.’ Later, Lambiase scolded him over the radio, calling the behavior ‘childish.’
With Red Bull bringing its biggest upgrades of the season to Hungary and seeing no improvement, Norris has every reason to be hopeful about closing the championship gap. However, McLaren’s strategy errors might haunt them as the season progresses.
