McLaren “a long way” from prioritising Piastri despite Verstappen's F1 title gains

McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella says his squad is "a long way" from backing championship leader Oscar Piastri over Lando Norris.

The 2025 title fight long looked like a two-horse race between the McLaren team-mates, but Red Bull's resurgence has provided Max Verstappen with an outside chance of taking a fifth consecutive title, with Verstappen winning two out of the last three races.

Verstappen's bid has been boosted by both McLaren drivers leaving heaps of points on the table, with the pair handing eight points to the Dutchman after they retired on the opening lap of the United States Grand Prix sprint race.

That has brought Verstappen to within 55 points of Piastri and 33 of Norris, but because of how close Norris still is to his team-mate, McLaren says it won't appoint a lead driver over the remaining six grands prix.

"We review our approach constantly, but we are a long way from being in condition to say that we are going to prioritise one driver over the other, especially as long as the chances are realistic for both drivers," Stella confirmed on Saturday night in Austin.

"This is the way we intend racing. This is the way in which we approach racing, we want to remain fair, and we want to apply equality to both drivers. So this is the situation at the moment."

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

The Italian added: "There are actually so many points yet to go that Verstappen is definitely in the quest, so I think the most important thing is that we make sure that the world champion will be a driver in a papaya car.

"But who is going to be the one? Certainly, the team wants both Oscar and Lando to be able to pursue their aspirations as long as it is reasonable to do so and as long as it's reasonable not having to commit to one driver."

Verstappen is starting from pole on Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas as he aims to take another bite out of Piastri's lead. The Australian suffered a difficult qualifying session and will start from sixth, while Norris will line up alongside Verstappen on the front row.