McLaren delivers blunt ‘Max is Max’ warning as Verstappen threatens 1-2 title quest

Michelle Foster 19 Oct 2025 2:00 PM

Max Verstappen celebrates

Dropping points to the resurgent Max Verstappen in the title race, Andrea Stella accepts “Max is Max, Red Bull is Red Bull” and McLaren never for even a moment thought the reigning World Champion was out of the fight.

But despite decimating Oscar Piastri’s lead in the Drivers’ standings from 104 points to 55 in three and a bit grand prix weekends, Verstappen doesn’t believe Red Bull has the pace to challenge McLaren for the World title.

Max Verstappen v McLaren title fight

⦁ Max Verstappen is only 55 points down on Oscar Piastri in the title fight
⦁ Reigning World Champion took 49 points out of Piastri’s lead since Zandvoort
⦁ Verstappen is not a ‘casualty’, he’s one of the ‘best’ F1 has seen

Back on track after Formula 1’s annual summer break with a seventh victory for this season for championship leader Piastri at the Dutch Grand Prix in a race in which Lando Norris was running P2 before an engine issue, McLaren appeared assured of a World title – if not the 1-2 – to go along with its pending F1 2025 Constructors’ crown.

But while the team did guarantee the teams’ trophy in Singapore, both Piastri and Norris have dropped points to Verstappen in the races since Zandvoort.

The reigning World Champion has taken 49 points out of Piastri’s lead, slashing it from 104 points to 55, while his deficit to second-placed Norris is just 33 points.

That’s in three grands prix and one Sprint, and Verstappen is set to start the 56-lap United States Grand Prix ahead of both McLaren drivers with Norris P2 on the grid and Piastri, P6.

The Verstappen and Red Bull threat is nothing new, not a surprise nor a shock, for McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.

“Max is Max, Red Bull is Red Bull,” Stella said in an interview with the official F1 website.

“We are talking about a super champion, the reigning World Champion for the last four seasons, so in fairness, we have never been naive to say that Verstappen was not in the quest to become Drivers’ World Champion.

“This has always been something that was clear to us, but ultimately, once we know it, we just focus on ourselves, and I’m actually quite impressed by how much Lando and Oscar are able to just reduce the noise and focus on themselves.

“They know that if they can extract the best of their potential, they can have very strong weekends and be in control of their own destiny in this quest to become champion.”

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Max Verstappen’s blunt assessment in McLaren title fight

But despite Stella’s somewhat bullish claim, Verstappen has entered the title race with Red Bull looking the stronger of the two teams at present.

Two grand prix wins in Italy and Baku, coupled with the Dutchman’s Sprint win in Austin and pole have tipped the scales – if not the numbers – in Verstappen’s favour.

“Well, I mean, it’s very simple,” the 28-year-old told Sky F1, “if you keep winning, then that’s a good thing.

“But, I do think that the Sprint we won, but the pace was not where I wanted it to be. So, if we are going to win, we definitely need to be stronger.”

It was a sentiment he reiterated in the post-qualifying press conference.

“I hope it’s better,” he said. “It’s difficult to say right now what will happen, of course. But at least I felt a bit happier with the car compared to yesterday’s [Friday’s] qualifying, and I hope that’s enough then for the race.”

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko agrees it’s not easy, but it is also not impossible.

“We’re still 55 points behind,” he told Sky Deutschland. “That’s a lot.

“Internally, I calculated that we would have to make up a total of 15 points here in Austin. And it looks like it could work out.

“The temperatures will be even warmer [in the grand prix]. So it will be crucial how you use the tyres. You saw that with Russell in the Sprint. He pushed and then the tyres were already in higher temperatures.”

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standingsMax Verstappen receives support from the grid

Although some of the drivers on the F1 2025 have refused to stake their name on one or another, Fernando Alonso says he believes Verstappen could pull it off.

After all, he won the 2021 title fight in a “little bit less performing” car with Mercedes.

Asked about Verstappen’s title hopes, the double World Champion declared: “Well, I think he’s four-times World Champion.

“First of all, that’s not a casualty, and he’s one of the best drivers in the history of the sport.

“I think he’s able to extract the maximum from the car, and when the car is a dominant car, he can win the championship and just break some records along the season.

“And when the car is not that good or not the fastest, he still provides the good lap in qualifying or the good race, the good fight.

“He’s in a very good level, very high level, and this year he’s obviously fighting against a superior car, which is the McLaren. But yeah, if it comes to the last race or whatever and they are tight on points, maybe in that moment he becomes the man to follow.

“I think the two McLarens have enough advantage on the car to fight between them. But, yeah, with Max, that can happen, as we saw in 2021 when the car was a little bit less performing than the Mercedes. He still won the championship in Abu Dhabi.”

Red Bull