McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris plan to work together (Picture: Shutterstock)
Despite a brilliant victory in Azerbaijan, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has conceded challenging for the drivers’ championship is ‘not realistic’ and the team’s best chance of dethroning Max Verstappen remains, for now, with Lando Norris.
‘I’m not out of the running but I think on average I need to score over ten points more than Max every weekend,’ said the 23-year-old, who is fourth in the standings and 91 points behind the leader ahead of Sunday’s race in Singapore.
‘I can try and win every race but it’s now at the point where I need other things to start happening. For that to happen seven races in a row is not very realistic.’
His team-mate is closer to the prize, with Verstappen just 59 points ahead. With both of their drivers winning races, McLaren find themselves in a position the team have not been in decades – leading the constructors’ world championship.
‘Maintaining the lead in the constructors’ is by far a bigger target,’ said Piastri. The papaya team have a 20-point advantage over reigning title holders Red Bull Racing. Ferrari are also in the ascendant and just 31 points shy of the lead.
Since Verstappen won in Spain in June, Red Bull have no victories and just two second places. In the past seven rounds they’ve amassed just 126 points compared to McLaren’s gain of 239 and Ferrari’s gain of 155.
Charles Leclerc took pole and led the first half of the race in Azerbaijan, while Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr won in Singapore last year. Both the Baku circuit and the Marina Bay layout suit Ferrari’s car best but McLaren have proven they have the pace to win on tracks which are far from tailor-made for the MCL38.
Piastri has a spring in his step. ‘I think we should be competitive this weekend. I don’t think [Baku] was our most competitive track of the year, so to pull off a win like that when Ferrari were so fast was a nice confidence boost,’ he added.
In Azerbaijan, Verstappen could only manage fifth and was elevated due to the late exit of team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Sainz.
Max Verstappen has endured a tough second half of the year (Picture: Getty Images)
Christian Horner, of course, defended his driver. But it is a dire second half of 2024 and if they are to regain the constructors’ lead and keep Verstappen top of the drivers’ table there can be no more mistakes.
That Norris failed to graduate from Q1 in Baku and from the back of the grid could only muster P4 and the fastest lap at least left a crack of light, as far as the Red Bull team principal is concerned.
He said: ‘What has [Lando] taken, three points off [Max]? [But] it’s frustrating, particularly after where Lando qualified, that we didn’t beat him. We took a big hit in the constructors’, so we’ve got to attack. There’s a lot of points [still] up for grabs, so it’s far from over.’
Singapore was a bogey track for Red Bull last year, with Verstappen qualifying a lowly 11th and finishing fifth. ‘I know this is not going to be our easiest weekend,’ said the triple world champion.
‘I’m confident we can do a better job than last year but also the competition has improved quite a bit.’
Perez will be hoping to outqualify Verstappen again, his P4 in Azerbaijan the first time he had undercut his team-mate in 33 races.
Daniel Ricciardo faces an uncertain future in Formula One (Picture: Shutterstock)
The pressure is also on another member of the Red Bull family, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. It is rumoured this could even be his final grand prix.
It will be the 35-year-old’s 257th start, in a career that has included eight wins, three poles and 32 podiums. ‘At the moment, I’m unaware of [what the future holds]. We know how this sport works. Obviously crazy things happen,’ he said, adding he wouldn’t bet his house on him racing at the next round in Austin.
Verstappen, a friend and ex-team-mate, said: ‘I don’t think he has to feel sorry for himself. Even if this is the last race, you can still look back on something amazing.’
Hamilton hits out at ‘racial’ rapper reference in eff one clampdown
The FIA has asked F1 bosses to minimise the amount of swearing broadcast during races.
While bad language is bleeped out on the official TV feed, it isn’t on Netflix and the frequency of such outbursts has become a cause of concern to the governing body’s president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Lewis Hamilton is unhappy with Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s comments (Picture: Getty Images)
Speaking to Motorsport.com, he revealed he is making moves to change the tone, saying: ‘We have to differentiate between our sport and rap music. We’re not rappers.
‘They use the F-word how many times per minute? Imagine you are sitting with your children and watching the race and someone is saying all this dirty language.’
Formula One Management is yet to comment. Given the fractious relationship between the two groups, the response might be ‘eff-off’ and the drivers are not impressed. Lewis Hamilton said: ‘I don’t like how he has expressed it.
‘Saying “rappers”, is very stereotypical. If you think about it, most rappers are black, so, it says “we are not like them”. So I think those are the wrong choice of words and there is a racial element there.’
Max Verstappen said: ‘I couldn’t even say the F-word? It’s not even that bad. What are we, five-year-olds?’ Perhaps illustrating the scale of the issue, he then told reporters he knew his ‘car was f****d’ in Baku.
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