Ex-F1 Driver Blasts McLaren Over “Weak Mindset” Amidst Title Fight with Max Verstappen

Dan Ticktum pointed out that Lando Norris' 'weak mindset' will cause him to lose the title against in-form Max Verstappen in 2025.

Ex-F1 Driver Blasts McLaren Over “Weak Mindset” Amidst Title Fight with Max Verstappen

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via Red Bull)

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The 2025 driver’s title battle will be extremely exciting as it will be fought for between the top three drivers in the standings. Max Verstappen will certainly be the driver to watch as he has to cover up a 12-point deficit to Lando Norris in order to win the title.

Meanwhile, Norris’ life is a bit easier as he just has to come up in the Top 4 if Verstappen wins the race. Now, ex-F1 driver Dan Ticktum fires some shots at McLaren for their ‘weak mindset’ in the title battle against the reigning world champion.

McLaren is committing major blunders in terms of strategies and other aspects at such a crucial time in the championship fight. The team must come up with perfect results, but failed to win the previous Qatar GP with Oscar Piastri, which probably cost him the title win.

Now, Dan Ticktum believes that Max Verstappen is the deserving winner of the title, while Woking will pay for their mistakes in the final race. He declared that he wanted Max Verstappen to win the 2025 F1 title. He continued that the Dutchman was a ‘kindred spirit’ on a higher level as compared to everyone else on the grid.

Moreover, the pace Verstappen managed to pull off in a Red Bull challenger was impressive. Ticktum then recalled the 28-year-old’s comments about easily winning the title if he were in a McLaren challenger, with Lando Norris disagreeing with the former.

I want Max to win, Max is sort of a bit of a kindred spirit on a bit of a higher level. And obviously, some of the pace he manages to get out of that car sometimes is pretty incredible. There was a joke a couple weeks ago about Max being in a McLaren and he’d win, and Lando sort of clapping back with it, or whatever

Dan Ticktum told RacingNews365.

Dan Ticktum did not hesitate to claim that Max Verstappen was indeed correct, and he would’ve won the title much earlier if he had the McLaren car. Ticktum questioned whether the Papaya Squad would now bottle their championship chances in the final race of the 2025 season. The former driver reckoned that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were weak-minded at Woking and thus weren’t able to seal their title victory early on in the season.

I’m sorry, he’s absolutely right. Max in that McLaren, he would have won a long time ago this season. So, yeah, let’s see if the team McLaren guys bottle it. I think both of them are relatively weak minded, if I’m honest, in their own rights. So, yeah, let’s see.

Dan Ticktum added.

Gabriel Bortoleto claims ‘best driver’ Max Verstappen deserves to win 2025 F1 title

The Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto has been a great friend to Max Verstappen as the two often enjoy sim racing sessions together. The Brazilian was questioned about his thoughts on the title battle in Abu Dhabi, and he delivered his brutally honest opinion on it. Bortoleto reckoned that it would be impossible to predict what would happen in Abu Dhabi, especially after witnessing the Qatar GP.

Max Verstappen winning the 2025 Las Vegas GP (via Red Bull)
Max Verstappen winning the 2025 Las Vegas GP (via Red Bull)

However, Gabriel Bortoleto noted that the best driver out of all will win the driver’s title this time around. The Brazilian highlighted that Max Verstappen made fewer errors than his rivals on track and proved himself to be the best driver in the world. As such, Bortoleto firmly believed that the reigning world champion was the deserving winner of the 2025 F1 title.

What happened last weekend [in Qatar] no-one really expected it could, so it is impossible to predict, The world championship is about the best driver in the world, and this season, Max has made fewer mistakes and proved he was the best driver in the world this year, so I think he deserves the title. 

Gabriel Bortoleto said, as reported by RacingNews365.

Certainly, it isn’t going to be easy for Max Verstappen to win the title in its current state. The Dutchman must win the race with Lando Norris finishing in P4 or below to seal Verstappen’s title win. Although winning sounds easier for Verstappen, his title ambitions still rely on Norris’ race in Abu Dhabi. Hence, it will be exciting to see how the battle pans out between the top drivers.

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