F1 debate: Should McLaren choose number one driver amid Max Verstappen title threat?
Max Verstappen is just 40 points behind Oscar Piastri and even closer to Lando Norris and McLaren must consider how best to see off the threat of their Red Bull rival
Daniel is Reach PLC's FIA-accredited senior Formula 1 correspondent. He provides constant coverage of the sport's big names like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and produces daily news reports, features and interviews. Daniel also writes a column for each of our national newspapers every Saturday on a race weekend, and puts together a free weekly F1 newsletter sent directly to subscribers every Wednesday.
Max Verstappen is no longer an outside contender for the Formula 1 drivers' championship – he is fully in the race now. In Austin he looked like the 2023 version of himself as he powered to dominant victories in both the Sprint and main races, taking home a maximum 33 points.
Meanwhile, the McLarens ahead of him in the standings stumbled again. They were unlucky to be both taken out in a first-corner stampede in the Sprint, but while Lando Norris limited the damage on Sunday by finishing second, championship leader Oscar Piastri was off the pace and came home fifth.
Over the whole weekend, the Aussie saw Verstappen take 23 points out of the gap between them. The Red Bull racer is just 40 behind now, with five rounds remaining including two more Sprints.
McLaren have been committed to allowing their drivers to decide the fate of the drivers' championship among themselves and will be reluctant to intervene. But with Verstappen now a truly significant threat, is now the time for them to pick a number one driver? Our F1 correspondents have their say:
Harry Smith – It's too late to turn back now
Number one driver. Those were the three words on the lips of reporters after McLaren watched Max Verstappen take another chunk out of Oscar Piastri's championship lead in Austin on Sunday. While it's hard to blame them for the speculation, it's still too soon for Andrea Stella to step in and deny one of his drivers a shot at eternal F1 glory.
Verstappen may well roar back and clinch his fifth successive title, but McLaren have made their bed and they have to see their 'fair and equal' approach through until the end, be it a bitter or sweet one.
READ MORE: Max Verstappen issues F1 title war cry after stellar US GP win as McLaren feel the heatREAD MORE: F1 chief says what he really thinks about US Grand Prix as announcement made over futureHow does one approach Lando Norris, who responded to a heartbreaking mechanical DNF in Zandvoort by beating his team-mate in four straight races, and tell him that his right to fight has been stripped away, just as momentum started to swing in his favour?
After all, the gap is only 14 points, and if Piastri's three-race podiumless streak continues, Norris may soon emerge as McLaren's leading hope to seal the World Championship double in 2025. With the Australian showing cracks under pressure, do McLaren really want to put all of their eggs in that basket?
To lose the drivers' championship to Verstappen on merit in an equal fight would be a more understandable hiccup than to pigeonhole their hopes into one driver, only for it to emerge that they backed the wrong horse. Either way, the nerves on the McLaren pit wall will only intensify if Verstappen's rampage goes on unchallenged.
Daniel Moxon – Choosing their main man is the hard part
Max Verstappen has all the momentum and the tracks coming up suit his Red Bull far more than the McLarens. So at this point it would be negligent for McLaren to not do everything they can to try to see off the Dutchman's challenge.
And that, sadly, means picking a number one driver upon whom they can focus all their efforts. Ousted Red Bull chief Christian Horner was right earlier this year when he said Verstappen has the advantage of not having a team-mate in the title race and this is now hampering McLaren.
The more difficult question to answer is: Who do they pick? Oscar Piastri is the one in front and that gives Verstappen a bigger mountain to climb. But Lando Norris is crucially the one in form and has narrowed the gap to his team-mate in every race since his engine failure in Zandvoort at the end of August.
Just 14 points separate them now and whichever driver is not picked will kick up a huge stink about it. Piastri said after Sunday's race that he doesn't want McLaren to pick a number one, no matter which one of them they would choose. And if they picked Norris, you can be sure Piastri's manager Mark Webber would be on the phone to Red Bull and Ferrari in a heartbeat, offering them one of F1's top stars.
So there's really no good outcome. Prioritise either one of their prized stallions and the other is alienated destroying the harmony that McLaren have impressively maintained. Fail to pick a favourite, and you're making it easier for Verstappen to pip both of them to the post.
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