Oscar Piastri Hints at Max Verstappen Trigger for Team Orders at McLaren

Current championship leader Oscar Piastri refused to rule out Max Verstappen from the title race, hinting at the potential need for team orders at McLaren.

Oscar Piastri Hints at Max Verstappen Trigger for Team Orders at McLaren

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri (via XPB images)

McLaren emerged as the favorites for the 2025 Formula 1 world title. The Woking-based team is miles ahead of Max Verstappen and Red Bull in terms of pure pace. Oscar Piastri comfortably leads the standings with Verstappen in third place. Yet, the Australian driver recognizes the potential threat of the Dutchman, hinting at the need of team orders.

So far, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have been given complete freedom to race one another by the McLaren pitwall. This has resulted in some exciting action for fans, with the Australian driver winning five races. On the other hand, Norris has had a tougher season with only two wins to his name. Nevertheless, both drivers have remained ahead of Verstappen in the championship.

Piastri asserted that it is no surprise that both drivers at the team want to win the championship. He insisted that McLaren should allow them to race on pure merit as long as possible. However, the 24-year-old claimed that if Max Verstappen remains in the title battle in the latter half of the season, this could create a problem. The Australian hinted that McLaren would then need to make a choice on which driver to support. Last season, it was Oscar Piastri who was forced to obey team orders for Norris’ title bid.

[We] both want to be world champion. When you’ve got two quick drivers that can fight for that on merit, then you should let it happen. I think if one of us jumps ahead of the other and, say, Max – or if someone else, but probably Max – is still in the fight, then yes, maybe at some point there needs to be a conversation. But I think we’re very far away from that point at the moment.

Oscar Piastri told Viaplay

Max Verstappen and Red Bull not ready to ‘give up’

Following the Spanish GP, Max Verstappen now trails behind Oscar Piastri by 49 points. The Dutch driver’s points tally was impacted by a ten-second penalty for his incident with George Russell. With nine races done, things are not looking bright for the reigning world champion.

Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko (via Red Bull)
Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko (via Red Bull)

Red Bull Motorsport Consultant Dr. Helmut Marko admitted that it will not be easy for Verstappen to overcome this points gap considering the massive advantage of McLaren. Though, he pointed out that Red Bull has achieved such a feat in the past with Sebastian Vettel. Moreover, the 81-year-old insisted that Milton Keynes will need to make improvements with the car or else its struggles will only get worse. Nevertheless, Marko made it clear that Verstappen and his team were not going to give up.

Even with Vettel we have recovered 44 points to Alonso. Verstappen has already recovered a disadvantage of 46 points. This year, however, it will be very difficult, because we don’t have a car at the level of McLaren. As a performance, we manage to be on par with them only once every 3-4 races, they instead have no drops. If we don’t fix the problems we have, the disadvantage can only increase. We don’t give up, but we know it will be very difficult.

Helmut Marko told Servus TV

Certainly, Max Verstappen and Red Bull need to bounce back. The four-time world champion is a driver who always battles till the end. Oscar Piastri’s comments show that McLaren are not going to underestimate the potential of their arch-rival despite their current advantage. This can make things interesting in the coming races if Milton Keynes manages to turn things around.

Read More: “He Should Know Better,” Ex-F1 Team Owner Lambasts Max Verstappen for Ruining Everything at Spanish GP