McLaren send clear message over Max Verstappen threat as F1 title intensity builds

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown insists Max Verstappen is "still very much in the game" as the F1 drivers' championship battle swells to a crescendo.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris appeared to have an intra-team stranglehold on the title fight this season, but the Red Bull driver has clawed his way back into the picture by stringing together two victories and a second place in the past three rounds.

That stretch alone has slashed the Australian's advantage over the four-time F1 drivers' champion from 104 points to 63, with six rounds — and three sprints — remaining, including this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

Ahead of the trip to the Circuit of the Americas, Brown conceded that, as much as he would like the McLaren team-mates to "solely" be in contention, that is not the case.

"While we’d like it to solely come down to our two guys, Max [Verstappen] is still very much in the game," said the American. 

"I think what has been key is that the team have remained so focused but also very humble. So, we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing."

McLaren wrapped up a second-successive F1 constructors' crown at the Singapore Grand Prix, marking the first time the Woking-based squad has gone back-to-back in that championship since 1991.

However, Brown maintains it will have no bearing on how the team operates and how it polices Piastri and Norris through its increasingly-contentious papaya rules. 

"Our strategy isn't going to change because we’ve won the constructors', we’re going to approach the remaining race weekends in the same way we’ve approached every one before it," the 53-year-old confirmed.

'A lot of risk and a lot of opportunity'

The title showdown between the two McLarens and Verstappen is made all the more important by the looming F1 regulations changes coming into force at the end of the current campaign.

2026 is a significant step into the unknown for all teams, across both power units and chassis. Brown is well aware of how much "tougher" things will be next season.

"Do we want to create a McLaren dynasty and leave a legacy? Of course we do," he said. "But it’s like Andrea [Stella, McLaren team principal] says: 'You don’t race trying to create a legacy, you show up every weekend, focused on what you need to do that weekend, and then, the results and the history books take care of themselves.'

"Next year, with the new regulations, is going to be even tougher. This year, we had the benefit of working within regulations that we knew.

"But we’re now entering a new era, with one of the biggest regulation changes in the history of F1 — that comes with a lot of risk and a lot of opportunity."

Nonetheless, the goal does not change. "That's what we're here to do: win races and win championships. And we couldn't be hungrier," concluded Brown.