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McLaren

McLaren handed 'doomed to fail' verdict as Max Verstappen pressure intensifies

McLaren is prepared to let its two drivers fight against each other until the very end of the season for the F1 title.

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Former F1 driver Martin Brundle believes McLaren is "doomed to fail" with its setup of having two number one drivers. 

McLaren is in its third season with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as team-mates, although tension has built between the duo in their search for a maiden drivers' title. 

Ahead of the United States Grand Prix sprint race, Piastri holds a 63-point lead over an in-form Max Verstappen and a 22-point advantage over Norris, who has been informed by the team of "repercussions" for what he did in Singapore.

On the opening lap in the Singapore GP, Norris made contact with Piastri, resulting in action being taken by McLaren for the remainder of the campaign. 

While the papaya squad has not revealed specific details of what has been dealt to Norris, Brundle expects the driver partnership to eventually fail due to the nature of the pair.

Discussing the focus now being on the drivers' title, Brundle told Sky F1: "100% yes, of course, there's a championship to be won. 

"They've both got a fantastic car at McLaren. Max is appearing in the rear view mirrors quite quickly as well in the last few races. 

"In many respects, this setup, it's doomed to fail. You've got two supremely competitive athletes working in a team environment. It's always going to go wrong. It's just a question of how the team handles it."

McLaren making title fight 'complicated'

Norris has made contact with Piastri on two occasions this year, in Canada and Singapore. In the former, it saw the Briton crash out of the race. 

The pair fighting on circuit more often in recent rounds is increasing the intensity of the title fight, although 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button believes McLaren is making it more difficult for itself.

Addressing Singapore making the title fight more intense, Button also told Sky F1: "It did, we love a good fight for the championship. In terms of performance, they're both putting it out there, putting it on the line, which is great to see.

"Obviously, when the team gets involved with how hard you can push your team-mate and the repercussions of what probably happened at the last race, it gets a little bit complicated.

"Especially in-house, it gets complicated."

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