Oscar Piastri sold his soul to McLaren, claims Verstappen

Max Verstappen said he would never have complied with McLaren team orders how Oscar Piastri did in 2025.

By doing so, Verstappen said, as a driver, you “sell your soul” to the team, which can now “do whatever it wants with you”. Verstappen also pointed out that Piastri was firmly in the title hunt at the time, with Monza the most polarising team orders scenario to emerge during McLaren’s 2025 campaign.

Max Verstappen on Oscar Piastri: ‘You sell your soul’

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In what was ultimately a successful approach, McLaren stuck to its guns of creating a level playing field for its drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, to fight for the Drivers’ Championship.

The McLaren blueprint sparked debate, particularly at Monza, where McLaren ordered Piastri to yield to Norris, who had pitted after Piastri despite being ahead on the road, and suffered a slow stop.

McLaren felt that was the fair thing to do. Piastri initially questioned it, but followed the order.

By that stage, Piastri was the clear favourite to win the title. He was 34 points clear of Norris going into that Italian Grand Prix.

Yet, he ended the season third in the standings, behind new World Champion Norris, and a resurgent Verstappen, who fell just two points short of completing a legendary comeback title win.

In an interview with Blick, Verstappen was asked whether he would have played the McLaren team orders game, as Piastri did. His answer was emphatic.

“Definitely not.

“If you do that once without a clear reason, you sell your soul. The team can then do whatever it wants with you.

“And let’s not forget: Piastri was in the middle of the title fight.”

As the 2025 season approached its thrilling climax, and Verstappen increasingly went from rank outsider to a genuine title contender, he suggested that he was still in the fight due to the mistakes of others. Had he been driving that McLaren MCL39, Verstappen felt the championship battle would have already been decided.

Those comments drew a blunt “a lot of things he doesn’t have much of a clue about” retort from Norris, who also suggested that an “aggressive nature” is the Red Bull way, as is “talking nonsense a lot of the time.”

Verstappen was reunited with his claim that the title would have been decided earlier if he were in the McLaren.

“That statement is true,” he insisted, showing that his stance had not shifted.

“But I never actually interfere in my opponents’ internal problems. I can always give them a competitive response on the track.”

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Indeed, while Verstappen did not take a fifth World Championship trophy away from 2025, he was voted as the year’s top driver by both his fellow racers, and the team principals.

From 104 points behind, to just two as the chequered flag flew in Abu Dhabi, Verstappen looks back on that season with pride.

“No one would have believed we could do it amid all the turmoil surrounding the change of team boss,” said Verstappen, a nod to the shock dismissal of Christian Horner following the British Grand Prix.

“We were still 104 points behind before the final sprint.”

Verstappen will look to mount a fresh title challenge in F1 2026 as the new chassis and engine regulations come into force, sparking the potential for major shifts in the pecking order.

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