McLaren accused of blatant favouritism in Oscar Piastri-Lando Norris F1 title fight

1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti has accused McLaren of blatantly favouring Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri. 

McLaren has come under significant fire in recent weeks on social media from fans accusing it of favouring Norris, something Andretti agrees with. 

The comments follow a controversial Singapore GP, which saw Norris overtake Piastri on the opening lap for third but make contact with his team-mate. 

Piastri left the door open at Turn 3 which Norris capitalised on with an aggressive move, before making contact with both Max Verstappen and Piastri. 

It resulted in an infuriated championship leader to complain over the team radio, with Piastri having asked McLaren to inform Norris to hand the position back.

Both the stewards and McLaren opted against taking any action, raising speculation over how the Australian will approach this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

"[Max] Verstappen is very strong," Andretti told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I like Piastri for his grit, but it seems to me that at McLaren, for some reason—I don't know why—they favour Lando Norris."

Leclerc's Ferrari escape option

While Red Bull and Mercedes fought McLaren in Singapore, Ferrari has fallen further adrift in the pecking order. 

It has been a troublesome and disappointing campaign for the Scuderia which has left Charles Leclerc increasingly frustrated, a driver Andretti is a keen admirer of. 

If the Monegasque wanted to escape Ferrari, Andretti would snap at the chance to sign Leclerc for Cadillac.

"I'm a big fan of Leclerc; if he really wanted to change teams one day, I'd take him to Cadillac straight away. Ferrari is Ferrari, and sooner or later it will come back. Always."

Asked if he has lost faith in team boss Fred Vasseur, Andretti simply replied: "Yes."