Herbert voices doubt over McLaren title chances

McLaren might have damaged its championship hopes by letting Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri race in Japan, according to Johnny Herbert.

The Woking-based squad opted not to interfere when both of its drivers chased Max Verstappen for the lead of the race at Suzuka last weekend.

Piastri crossed the line in third place behind Norris despite declaring over team radio he had the pace to challenge Verstappen.

Three-time grand prix winner Herbert voiced support for McLaren's lack of team orders - but warned not attempting to give Piastri a shot could hurt it in the long term. 

“I'm glad Zak Brown let them race,” Herbert told FastSlots. “Did McLaren lose out? Maybe. 

“But at the end of the day they were beaten by Max and Red Bull, who are still in the fight for the championship.

“I've never ruled him out, you can't rule him out. And Red Bull are not far off and haven't been far off so far this season. It's justMcLaren has slightly got that edge.

“Is it damaging for their championship hopes? In some ways, yes. 

“Because, like last year with Max, and like Michael Schumacher in his heyday, they always won the championship by their early-season form and everybody else played catch-up.

“We're a few races in and Norris is only one point ahead, so they haven’t capitalised as much as they should have done.”

McLaren cruised to victory at the opening two rounds of the season as it entered the campaign as favourites following a strong pre-season test.

While Herbert accepted McLaren appears to have the best package in hand, he declared it will not have an easy route to title success.

“I never thought this season was going to be a walkover for McLaren and I think they're still going to have to earn any success,” he said.

“I would argue they probably have the better package because the McLaren does seem to work absolutely everywhere.”