The Max Verstappen light at the end of Lando Norris’ title tunnel

Formula 1 may be, and it is a big ‘may be’ after Max Verstappen’s back-to-back wins in Monza and Baku, looking at an intra-team McLaren title race, but it is the Red Bull driver who could have the final say.

And he could even swing it in his good mate Lando Norris’ favour if, and again it is a big ‘if’, Norris beats his teammate Oscar Piastri on the day.

Could Max Verstappen be the kingmaker in the F1 2025 title fight?

McLaren heads into the final seven races of the F1 2025 championship holding down the 1-2 in the Drivers’ standings with Piastri 31 points to the good over Norris.

Piastri’s lead shot up from nine points to 34 points after the Dutch Grand Prix when he won while Norris suffered an engine failure that put him out of the race.

However, after Monza and Baku, it was down to 25 points with Piastri fortunate that his teammate had a lacklustre Azerbaijan Grand Prix on a day when he crashed out on the opening lap.

But perhaps more telling, according to former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, is that McLaren was denied an opportunity to fight for the telling points, the 25 for the win, by Max Verstappen and Red Bull at both the Italian and Azerbaijan races.

The German reckons that if that continues, and it could given that Red Bull made notable gains on the track with its Monza floor, Verstappen could be the kingmaker in the championship fight.

He could even put Norris in the ascendancy.

F1 2025 title race: Oscar Piastri v Lando Norris

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

The six-time grand Prix winner told Sky Deutschland’s Backstage Boxengasse podcast: “Lando sees a bit of light at the end of the tunnel again.

“Max is here, and he can now take points away, which wasn’t the case before. That’s very important in this situation.”

But, first and foremost, Norris needs to ensure Verstappen is taking points off Piastri and not off him by being ahead of them both.

“If Lando manages to drive a good race and Max finishes between him and Oscar Piastri, he still has a realistic chance,” added Schumacher.

In Baku, though, it was a case of both McLaren drivers losing to Verstappen.

They qualified seventh and ninth behind the pole-sitter with Piastri crashing after a jumped start while Norris spent the latter part of his race stuck in a DRS train after a tardy pit stop cost him a position or two.

Schumacher says he cannot fault the Briton’s race, but that he didn’t help his cause by clipping the wall in qualifying and finishing down in seventh place – and doing so after Piastri had suffered his first crash of the weekend.

“In my opinion, that wasn’t enough,” Schumacher said. “Lando could have gotten more out of it.

“He should have been further up in qualifying. That would have made a difference. The race usually builds up quite differently. He still has to work on that.

“Nevertheless, unlike his teammate, he drove a flawless race. He tried, but didn’t take any risks. So, hats off to him. Lando was also pleased that Oscar, who has occasionally thrown some jabs at him, made a mistake himself.”

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