Norris defended with Verstappen challenge failure declared 'McLaren's fault'

Jacques Villeneuve has claimed that should Lando Norris fail to claim this year's F1 world title it will be "McLaren's fault" and not that of the British driver. 

Norris is 52 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen with 180 points up for grabs over the remaining six rounds, including three sprint events.

The 24-year-old reduced that gap from 59 with a dominant win in Singapore, but Verstappen can now afford to finish second to Norris in all six remaining grands prix and sprint races and still retain his fourth successive drivers' championship.

This is despite McLaren having the fastest car with Red Bull's RB20 suffering an alarming dip in form, with the team hoping an Austin upgrade can turn things around from the upcoming United States Grand Prix.

However, 1997 world champion Villeneuve feels failure to land a first drivers' crown since Lewis Hamilton in 2008 will fall on McLaren's shoulders rather than Norris.

"It just needs a bit more from Lando to be more competitive, but it will be a fun end to the season," he explained to Marca. "It will be very close between Max and Lando.

"Max has changed his approach. He is not trying to win races, but just to rack up points. That shows maturity. The championship is more important than winning individual races.

"He knows that McLaren is not making the tough decisions that it should, and that will be in his favour. If Lando is not champion it will be McLaren’s fault, not his.

“McLaren has made a mess of things and it’s too late now."

Team orders at McLaren

The first major flare-up of team orders at McLaren came in Hungary when a strategy call allowed Norris to undercut leader Piastri, with the team then imploring Norris to let the Australian back through. 

This was despite a tricky day for title leader Verstappen, who eventually finished fifth, meaning Norris only took eight points instead of 15 out of the Red Bull driver for the win after he waved Piastri through. 

"It started in Hungary, they have shown real weakness by not giving priority to Norris over Piastri, but we don’t know what Oscar’s contract says," continued Villeneuve. 

"We don’t know what Mark Webber, his manager, managed to get into his contract. He’s a smart guy.

“Mark was always at the wrong end of the spectrum at Red Bull, even when he was beating [Sebastian] Vettel. 

"Vettel always had preference many times. I am sure he will not let history repeat itself for Oscar.

“If you look at Monza, it should have been a one-two for McLaren. They lost points as a team and that should never have happened. Norris is the one who is fighting for the drivers’ championship.”

“Max realises he is a threat,” the former Williams driver said of Norris. “They have had some real battles, which is good and I think he sees him as a real competitor now."