McLaren worried ‘tension’ between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could build over factor out of their control

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With eight rounds remaining of the 2025 F1 season, the current title fight between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is reaching a boiling point.

Piastri currently leads his McLaren teammate by 31 points in the F1 standings, but as we saw with Norris in Zandvoort, a hefty points swing could take place if either driver fails to finish a race or has an uncharacteristically bad weekend.

There has been some debate over the way that the British constructor is managing their two drivers after their most recent team orders debacle at Monza.

David Coulthard has warned McLaren about a potential ‘bust-up’ between the drivers if the team continue to meddle in their battles on-track.

READ MORE: Oscar Piastri admits Lando Norris title fight now has an ‘added complication’ he’s never experienced

McLaren ‘fear’ that Max Verstappen could ‘influence’ Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s title F1 fight

Max Verstappen has been the closest competitor to McLaren throughout the 2025 season, notching five pole positions and three Grand Prix victories against the season’s most dominant team.

Speaking on the Paddockpraat podcast, journalist Frank Westenburg disclosed the current sentiment at the Woking-based racing outfit, saying, “It was of course mainly between Norris and Piastri, but suppose Max can now, more often than not, start mixing himself in the fight for the win.

“Then, as Norris or Piastri, you start to look over your shoulder. Well, suppose Max wins, then the tension at McLaren will increase.

“Maybe they’re not immediately afraid that they will lose the championship, but Norris makes himself nervous pretty quickly anyway.

“You still always feel at McLaren, a certain fear for Verstappen. And he can, of course, be of influence on the title fight between Norris and Piastri.”

The Red Bull driver is currently 63 points behind Norris in the drivers’ championship and will need a string of results to go his way for him to be considered a serious contender.

However, he showed that he is still capable of challenging the McLarens at the most recent Grand Prix weekend in Italy.

He’s often in and around his F1 rivals on-track, and can easily be a thorn in Norris and Piastri’s side as they battle it out amongst themselves.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen names which driver he hopes will give him a ‘fantastic’ F1 title fight in 2026

Max Verstappen has been busy with GT3 cars since the most recent Italian Grand Prix

Due to the lack of involvement in the championship fight in the current campaign, Verstappen has turned his attention to racing GT3 cars during weekends that don’t involve an F1 race.

Earlier in the season, Verstappen took part in a GT3 test at the Nurburgring under a pseudonym as he looked towards realising one of his motorsport dreams of competing in the iconic Nurburgring 24 Hours race.

The four-time world champion regularly takes part in endurance racing on his own personal simulator. It has caused friction at Red Bull in the past, due to the vast amount of time that the hobby demands.

However, the Dutchman inched closer to his dream by taking part in a Nurburgring Endurance Series race at the weekend in hopes of securing the permit needed to race in the GT3 category on the famous ‘Green Hell’.

Verstappen ‘impressed’ his instructor at the Nordschleife in preparation for the race. He had to complete a number of laps behind a driver coach before taking part in the rest of the sessions for the race.

F1 hasn’t competed at the track since 1976, due to safety concerns regarding the 12.9-mile route located in Western Germany. Following his most recent drive, Verstappen stated why the Nurburgring is still too risky for F1 by citing the power difference between his Red Bull car and a GT3 car.