Martin Brundle sends message to Oscar Piastri fans who think McLaren are favouring Lando Norris

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Oscar Piastri has relinquished the lead of the Formula 1 world championship after his slump continued at the Mexican Grand Prix. Lando Norris’ dominant victory sees him edge ahead of his teammate by a single point.

Piastri led the standings by 34 points after he won the Dutch GP and Norris retired. But he’s lost an average of seven points per weekend since, scoring only one podium in five Grands Prix.

Norris has beaten Piastri in nine of the last 10 sessions where both drivers have been classified. The Australian appears to be faltering in the decisive period of the season.

However, some in the paddock believe Norris has received preferential treatment from McLaren, further complicating Piastri’s task. Controversial team-order calls went his way in both Italy and Singapore.

Martin Brundle says Oscar Piastri has the full support of McLaren

Speaking on the ‘F1 Show’, Martin Brundle insisted that McLaren ‘don’t mind’ which driver wins the title so long as they see off the threat of Max Verstappen. There would be no point spending hundreds of millions, he says, to then slow a driver down.

He can only speculate as to the real reason for Piastri’s loss of form. He needs a ‘very solid weekend’ because he still hasn’t fully recovered from a ‘brain-scattering’ Azerbaijan GP.

Indeed, Brundle suspects the main issue is psychological, which is surprising given that Piastri was hailed for his robotic consistency earlier in the year. He trailed Norris throughout the lap in Mexico, which may back up the theory that he’s simply lacking the confidence to truly attack.

“Baku would have scattered his brain,” said Brundle. “That was a very difficult weekend for him – twice in the barriers and a jump start. It seems to have gone off the rails.

“Without sitting down and talking to Oscar, it’s difficult to be fully accurate on this point. I’m sure McLaren are checking that chassis, the aerodynamics, the setup of that car ad infinitum.

“I really honestly believe that McLaren don’t mind which of their two drivers wins the world championship as long as it’s one of them and it’s not Max Verstappen. It’s super important to them.

“Something’s happened in Oscar’s head. Something’s just gone wrong and he’s lost a bit of confidence, and the way these cars go into corners and how close the competition is at the moment, you only need to be a touch off.

“He needs a very solid weekend. Has he got a lot going on in his ears? We described him as horizontal, and suddenly that facade seems to have gone from him, and he’s struggling.

“Rest assured, a team doesn’t spend $400m (£303m) a year and have 1,500 employees and try to make one of their cars go a little bit more slowly.

“His season early doors was so astonishing, you don’t suddenly forget how to do that.”

Martin Brundle predicts which McLaren driver will take the title

When asked to predict which driver would win the title from here, Brundle cast doubt on Verstappen’s chances. The Dutchman gained five points on Piastri by finishing third in Mexico, but lost 10 to Norris.

Verstappen wasn’t on Norris’ ‘level’ over a single lap or a full race distance. And Brundle expects him to have further difficulties against the papaya cars in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Picking between the two McLarens, then, Brundle lent towards Norris because of his superior form. The two-week break before Brazil could give Piastri a chance to reset, though.

“It’s so difficult,” said Brundle. “I believe Max has got a lot to do, unless he has a few weekends like Austin, because of the remaining four events, I believe McLaren will be faster in at least two of them.

“It’s two against one – Max doesn’t have a rear gunner up there – and every so often, a Ferrari or a Mercedes is grabbing the bigger points. I believe it’s between the two McLaren drivers unless they step on their own tails and hand it to Max.

“Max effectively needs 12 or 15 points a weekend to compensate for weekends like Qatar, for example, where I believe McLaren will be strong, probably Abu Dhabi as well.

“To answer your question, I think Lando can take it unless Oscar can return to the form that he had earlier in the season.”