But the 24-year-old turned that around with a flawless display in Qatar, only to be let down by his team. McLaren might have wrapped up the constructors’ championship six rounds previously in Singapore, but they keep finding new ways to keep Verstappen in the hunt for a drivers’ title that could have – should have – been sealed long before Sunday’s latest own goal.
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Piastri – who led Friday practice, took pole position and led every lap of Saturday’s sprint race and led comfortably from pole in Sunday’s grand prix – was in the box seat to win the 57-lap race when he had a three-second lead over Verstappen by lap seven. That was when the safety car was called to clean up debris from a crash involving German driver Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) and Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine).
With the field restricted to slower speeds, Verstappen and every other driver on the track pitted – except for the McLarens. Mindful that Norris would be delayed behind Piastri in the pits as the Australian’s car would be serviced first, McLaren instructed its drivers to stay on track.
It was a mistake that crippled the races of both Piastri and Norris, handing Verstappen – who had been unable to match Piastri on pace all weekend – crucial track position later in the race.
After Piastri made his mandatory second tyre stop from the lead with 16 laps left and Norris followed suit two laps later, Piastri was 17 seconds behind the Dutchman, while Norris was stuck in fifth behind Carlos Sainz (Williams) and Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes). Despite Piastri’s tyres being 10 laps younger than Verstappen’s, the gap was too big to overcome, and the Red Bull driver won by 7.995secs.
By trying not to disadvantage Norris in the pits, McLaren torpedoed the results of both its drivers. It continued a poor run for the team after Norris and Piastri were disqualified and denied any points from their second- and fourth-place finishes seven days previously in Las Vegas after their cars failed post-race scrutineering.
Max Verstappen can hardly believe his luck as he soars back into serious contention for the F1 drivers’ crown.Credit: Getty Images
“Speechless … I don’t know any words,” Piastri said over team radio on his in-lap back to the pits.
“I’m feeling pretty crap, as you can imagine,” he expanded later in his post-race interviews.
“I don’t really know what to say. We didn’t get it right with the strategy. I left it in the team’s hands to decide what the best strategy was. They’ve clearly got more information than I do.
“In hindsight, it’s pretty obvious what we would have done. I’m sure we’ll discuss it as a team. It’s not all bad obviously, it’s been a good weekend and the pace has been really strong. But obviously a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”
Verstappen, meanwhile, could barely conceal a knowing smirk, describing McLaren’s indecision as “an interesting move”.
Speaking with Sky Sports, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella immediately mentioned Norris when asked if McLaren’s season-long quest to maintain fairness between its drivers was behind the decision to not pit at least one of its cars when the remainder of the field clearly believed pitting was the only call.
“In fairness, we didn’t expect everyone else to pit,” Stella said.
“When everyone else behind you pits, then it makes it the right thing to do. That could have been a loss for Lando in pitting both cars [together] with the double-stack, but the main reason was not expecting everyone else to pit. It wasn’t the correct decision.
“We understand Oscar being extremely disappointed because from the start he has done everything right. We always want to keep the options open for both drivers. They’re both in position to win the championship.”
All season, McLaren’s internal “Papaya rules” ethos of letting its two drivers race one another fairly for the championship has come into question, increasingly so as Verstappen – the sole focus of his Red Bull team – went from being a theoretical contender to a very real one.
In an interview with F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast in November, McLaren CEO Zak Brown said McLaren would rather lose the title to Verstappen than enforce team orders to guarantee Norris or Piastri wins the championship; “Forget it, that’s not how we go racing,” Brown said.
On Sunday, it appeared McLaren threw away a near-certain win to double-down on that slogan and prove that it was not prioritising one driver over another.
Red Bull, battle-hardened in title fights where McLaren hasn’t won a drivers’ championship in 17 years, must hardly believe their luck.
Verstappen’s victory halved his points deficit to Norris in one fell swoop, while Piastri – who hasn’t been outside the top two in the standings for the previous 20 rounds since the Japanese Grand Prix in April – now needs to win in Abu Dhabi and have Norris finish sixth or worse to take the title given his 16-point deficit.
Under the F1 scoring system that has been in place since 2010, there has only been one driver win from a similar position of disadvantage to that which Piastri now finds himself in. That was in the first year of the system, when Sebastian Vettel came from 15 points down in third place to win in Abu Dhabi and steal the title from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull teammate – and coincidentally Piastri’s manager – Mark Webber.
Piastri knows the scale of the task ahead, but Sunday showed that – even if he can reprise the early-season form that re-emerged in Qatar – that might not be enough.
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“The pace was very strong and I feel like I didn’t put a foot wrong. It’s just a shame to not walk away with a win,” he said, before being asked what he needs to do in Abu Dhabi.
“Just drive like I did this weekend, that’s all I can do,” he replied.
“It was more than good enough to dominate this weekend. If I can do the same thing next weekend, I’ll be a happy man.”
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