Alex Jacques says McLaren bosses would have one regret if Max Verstappen steals the 2025 title

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Max Verstappen is putting the pressure on McLaren to seal the 2025 Formula 1 championship, with the Dutchman closing the gap with four races to go.

Since his home race at Zandvoort, the four-time champion has gained 68 points in the title fight. Verstappen now sits 36 points behind Lando Norris, who took the lead from Oscar Piastri at the Mexican GP, heading into the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend.

With 116 points still up for grabs, the 28-year-old still has a mountain to climb to win his fifth consecutive title. ‘Everyone’ at Red Bull thinks Verstappen must win in Brazil to keep his hopes alive.

But McLaren have arguably given the Dutchman the chance to get back into the title fight. The team have caused controversy with ‘papaya rules’ in recent races, with many in the paddock believing Norris is being favoured over Piastri.

Alex Jacques says McLaren will ‘regret’ overmanaging their drivers if Max Verstappen wins the 2025 title

Tensions have boiled between Norris and Piastri over team orders this season. As Verstappen edges closer, F1 commentator Alex Jacques thinks McLaren will come to regret ‘overmanaging’ their drivers if they lose the championship.

“It’s not the intensity of the McLaren civil war between Hamilton and Alonso,” said Jacques via James Allen on F1. “So it’s not had that pure visceral, almost hatred at points between the two contenders.

“And that was almost too good to be true. New contender, current world champion, they let Kimi in at the end on the rails.

“There are parallels that McLaren have potentially overmanaged the situation. I think if they’d continued to have the car advantage, it would have made sense to get the constructors’, manage it until you’ve won the constructors and then leave it alone.

“I think they have probably overstepped when you’ve got drivers on the radio going: ‘I don’t think that was a fair penalty, swap us over. There’s a slow stop, swap them over. Oh, we were wheel-banging at turn three, swap them over’.

“This is motor racing and I think potentially if they were to let Max in, I think their regret would be that they over-managed two very capable, proven drivers.”

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How Zak Brown will react if Max Verstappen beats McLaren to the title

McLaren have stated that they will be fair with their drivers in the title fight and allow them to race each other until the end. They have constantly reiterated how they go racing, and they will not steer away from that philosophy.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown would shake Verstappen’s hand and congratulate him on a ‘job well done’ if he were to beat Norris and Piastri for the championship. He would rather have both drivers lose the title than change the way they race and lose it themselves.

The momentum is currently with Norris, having beaten his teammate in the last five races. Piastri has hit a bad run of form, having struggled to find the right balance from the MCL39 on low-grip circuits.

But the Australian will be looking to fight back in the final four races. Helmut Marko thinks McLaren can ‘encourage’ Piastri by the fact that they do not have a number one driver – it gives him the freedom to challenge his teammate.