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McLaren’s favoritism chaos: how it backfired on Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix

Redação by Redação
December 2, 2025
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 3 mins read
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McLaren’s favoritism chaos: how it backfired on Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix
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McLaren’s Strategy Blunder: Did Bias Against Piastri Sabotage Norris’s Title Dreams?

In a season riddled with tension and drama, McLaren is facing fierce backlash over allegations of favoritism that could spell disaster for Lando Norris’s championship hopes. As the dust settles from the controversial Qatar Grand Prix, the whispers of conspiracy and bias continue to swirl, painting a disturbing picture of how team strategies may have inadvertently jeopardized Norris’s shot at Formula 1 glory.

The optics of McLaren’s performance in Qatar were anything but reassuring. Rather than executing a sound strategy during the critical lap seven safety car, McLaren’s management opted for a questionable approach that many believe hampered their chances of securing a fair outcome for both Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri. The prevailing theory suggests that by failing to pit both drivers simultaneously, McLaren not only missed an opportunity to bolster their race standing but also left Piastri in the dust, denying him a key chance to close the championship gap on Norris.

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Scott Mitchell-Malm, a prominent voice on The Race F1 Podcast, boldly challenged the narrative that McLaren’s decisions were made to protect Norris’s lead in the standings. “If you subscribe to the view that what they did was to prevent Norris from losing more ground to Piastri,” he asserted, “you have to remember that by doing that, they’ve hurt Norris anyway by allowing Verstappen to close the gap as much as he has.” The implications of this claim are staggering—could McLaren’s misguided strategy ultimately pave the way for Max Verstappen to swoop in and snatch the championship away from Norris?

With the Qatar result leaving Norris just 12 points ahead of Verstappen and 16 ahead of Piastri, the tension is palpable as the season approaches its climax. The accusations of bias are unlikely to dissipate any time soon, especially as the fanbases of both drivers gear up for a nail-biting finale that could see either Norris or Piastri crowned champion.

Mark Hughes, also contributing to the podcast discourse, highlighted another critical angle. He noted that had Norris found himself stuck behind Piastri during pit stops, it would align with typical racing protocol, where the lead driver takes precedence in strategy. In that scenario, Norris and his supporters would have no grounds for complaints. “Lando wouldn’t have had the grounds to say he was treated unfairly there,” Hughes explained. “He was the one that qualified behind, he was the one that lost a position on the first lap, therefore he wasn’t entitled to priority.”

The juxtaposition of McLaren’s commitment to fairness and the harsh reality of racing strategies reveals a complicated web of decision-making that ultimately appears to have backfired. As we approach the season’s final races, the stakes couldn’t be higher, and the question looms large: has McLaren’s attempt to balance its drivers inadvertently opened the door for Verstappen to claim yet another title, leaving both Norris and Piastri in the dust?

In the high-octane world of Formula 1, the line between strategy and sabotage can be dangerously thin. As McLaren navigates this treacherous terrain, only time will tell if their decisions will haunt Norris’s championship aspirations or if they will rise above the chaos to claim their rightful place in racing history.

Tags: 1958-formula-1-season2025-mclaren-f1-championshipLando Norrismax-verstappen-enOscar Piastri
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