The RB21 was not the fastest car around Suzuka — but Max Verstappen was. The Dutchman pulled off a drive of rare perfection to literally steal the race for Red Bull from McLaren. And he may have been unintentionally helped along by the McLaren team management itself!
The intense final few minutes of the Japanese GP laid bare the tensions within the McLaren camp —and the team’s unwillingness to challenge the status quo between its two drivers, which may have ended up costing it the race..
“I think I have the pace to get Max [Verstappen],” Oscar Piastri said on the radio to let his team know he was better placed than teammate Lando Norris to fight the Dutchman for the win at Suzuka.
Piastri’s indication was clear. The Australian in P3 wanted the team to issue orders to tell Norris in P2 to let him pass. That order never came. Piastri, instead, was made to fight his own teammate on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. As a result, the race finished with Verstappen taking the chequered flag and the order unchanged between the papaya drivers.
This decision to let Verstappen take the win unchallenged hasn’t sat well with many fans and experts. Among those is former Dutch driver Robert Doornbos. Furious with McLaren’s passive approach, he immediately reached out to Piastri’s manager, Mark Webber, through text message.
“I immediately sent Mark Webber a message afterwards: that you accept this, Mark [?]. I don’t expect that from you at all!” Doornbos revealed on Ziggo Sport’s Stamtafel.
mclaren not even letting oscar try to go after max is what’s annoying me. if he couldn’t do it, they could’ve just switched back anyway, since it was clear norris wasn’t able of getting the job done today
— rosa (@33piastri) April 6, 2025
The 43-year-old did not reveal Webber’s reaction, but was certain incidents like these would turn relationships tense at McLaren. Doornbos expects Webber to stand up for his pupil, something he has reportedly been doing behind the scenes since Piastri’s induction at the Woking-based outfit.
“Webber will no longer accept that Norris is already unofficially chosen as the first driver,” claims the former Red Bull third driver, while McLaren maintains they have no set hierarchy between their drivers. If that’s the case, why didn’t they let Piastri take a shot?
Andrea Stella defends the decision not to let Piastri overtake Norris
Did Piastri really have enough in the tank to overtake Verstappen if let through? Or did McLaren miss an opportunity to not just deny the reigning champion a win but also miss one for themselves? Team boss Andrea Stella cleared doubts after the race was over.
“I think Oscar made the right comments, but today, it was simply not possible to overtake. He got close to Lando because Lando was managing his tires, trying to give it a go to Max. So I think we need to be a little careful in judging superficially,” Stella told Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz.
What remains to be seen is if Piastri and Webber will buy the team principal’s argument. For now, the #81 driver is holding his composure. He even stated that if put in Norris’ position, he too would have preferred the status quo. But should that stay unchanged?
