Verstappen underlines Piastri factor in Red Bull plea

Max Verstappen has called for improvements at Red Bull in its faltering constructors' championship defence whilst singing the praises of Oscar Piastri.

Paired with the Dutchman's closest championship rival, Lando Norris, an increasingly accepted view is that the Woking-based team currently enjoys the best driver duo in the series, something that has been pushed by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown for some time.

Even Verstappen ally Helmut Marko has recently commented on the strength the papaya squad has in the cockpit, arguing that Red Bull cannot compete on that front at the moment - although that was undeniably a dig at Sergio Perez, not the three-times drivers' champion.

Whilst the 27-year-old was careful to avoid calling Norris and Piastri the "strongest" pairing in F1, he did concede they make a "very strong team" currently.

Verstappen underlined Piastri's form, particularly given that it is only the Australian's second season in F1.

When asked directly if he felt McLaren has the strongest driver line-up and whether the 23-year-old was over-performing for his second campaign, Verstappen said to media including RacingNews365, "Yeah, for sure. 

"Oscar's doing a great job. Being in your second year, you're still learning a lot about Formula 1 and in general. Yeah, he's doing a fantastic job lately.

"He's scoring the points for the team, and at the moment they are very strong as a team."

Since taking his maiden grand prix victory in Hungary, Piastri has only failed to reach the podium on one occasion. 

However, that fourth-place finish at the Dutch Grand Prix was due to a McLaren strategy call. He would have crossed the line in third had he not been run long and consequentially held up behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

Further still, not since the Spanish Grand Prix in June has Piastri finished outside the top four, a run stretching back eight rounds - coincidentally the same period over which Verstappen has failed to win.

Coupled with Norris' equally strong form, McLaren has turned the constructors' championship on its head. Once trailing by 115 points following the Miami Grand Prix, it now leads Red Bull by 41 points with six races remaining.

Given the performance of the MCL38 and its drivers, Verstappen knows that the defence of the title rests on the shoulders of him and his team, underscoring a need to improve the RB20 for the season-ending triple-headers.

"So it's now up to us to try and make it a bit more difficult for them, generally, I think, but that starts with ourselves," the 61-time grand prix winner added.

"We have to be better and make the car faster and that's what we're working on. But yeah, for sure from Oscar's side, he's having a great run now."