A McLaren-only title fight? Another ‘very serious contender’ has emerged

With eight races remaining and Max Verstappen starting the first of those on pole position, Andrea Stella is adamant the Red Bull driver is a “very serious contender” for the World title.

The F1 2025 championship has been largely McLaren’s as the Woking team has claimed 12 of 16 grand prix victories, putting the team on the cusp of wrapping up the Constructors’ Championship title.

McLaren wary of Max Verstappen challenge in the Drivers’ title fight

But with its two drivers fighting for the World title and taking points off one another, the individual championship is far from being decided.

Oscar Piastri leads the way with 324 points, 31 ahead of his teammate Norris.

The McLaren pair suffered their worst qualifying session of the campaign on Saturday around the streets of Baku, with Stella worried that the door has been left ajar for Verstappen.

Having won at Monza on the back of Red Bull’s latest batch of upgrades for the RB21, the Dutchman is 96 points down on Piastri in the standings.

F1 2025: The season’s winners and losers

👉 The results of the F1 2025 championship

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

But while that is a huge margin, Verstappen will line up on pole position in Baku with Norris P7 after he clipped the wall on his final flying lap while Piastri is two places back in ninth, having crashed out of qualifying.

The reigning World Champion could yet take a chunk out of McLaren’s lead in Sunday’s 51-lap Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“The takeaway from the Monza race,” Stella said, “and the way we have reviewed this internally and set our mindset for the final one-third of the races, was that Red Bull’s performance in Monza should not be considered a one-off because of Monza or a one-off because of low downforce.

“They have taken a new floor in Monza, and they might be setting up their car slightly differently.

“Now Verstappen is talking about grounding much more than he was doing before, so they might have unlocked performance.

“I would not be surprised at all that Red Bull may continue the streak that they have started – because pole position in Monza, victory, and now pole position here.

“Red Bull are a very serious contender to win races and a very serious contender for the Drivers’ Championship.”

McLaren teammates: Baku win is ambitious

Lining up seventh and ninth respectively, neither Norris nor Piastri are convinced that McLaren can fight for the win on Sunday.

Neither, though, is ruling it out entirely.

“I think Red Bull is too quick. They’re just as quick as us, easily,” Norris said. “They were very fast today.

“I think in these conditions, the Red Bull was performing well, even Yuki (Tsunoda) was up there, so clearly the Red Bull was working well around here.

“It’s a long race, a lot of opportunities can come our way. It’s not an easy track to overtake on, but it’s still possible. I’ll do my homework tonight and prepare the best I can.”

Piastri added: “I think the win is ambitious but let’s wait and see.

“I think we can definitely make progress. The car has been quick this weekend and hopefully we can use that to make progress.”

Read next: Winners and losers from the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying