Former F1 champion insists Oscar Piastri to be “more afraid” of Max Verstappen than McLaren teammate Lando Norris

Max Verstappen cut the gap in the drivers’ championship with a dominant pole-to-win performance in Baku while title leader Oscar Piastri suffered his first DNF of the season on the opening lap. The result tightened the standings and prompted former world champion Jacques Villeneuve to sound a warning to Piastri to worry more about Verstappen than Lando Norris.

Norris could only manage seventh and failed to capitalize on his teammate’s trouble. His struggles began on Saturday in a chaotic qualifying session that produced six red flags. After brushing the wall in Sector 2, he lost rhythm and settled for seventh on the grid. That left him stuck in the midfield for much of Sunday.

Villeneuve was blunt in his assessment after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He said (via Canal+):

"Seventh in a McLaren when your teammate doesn't get any points is not a good move. At worst, Norris should have finished second. An anonymous race for him. If I were Piastri, I'd be more afraid of Verstappen than of Norris"

Villeneuve’s point was blunt. After a messy qualifying in Baku and a tricky race weekend, he argues that Max Verstappen’s form is the bigger threat.

Oscar Piastri (81) and Max Verstappen (1) at the Baku City Circuit. Source: Getty

The Red Bull driver took pole and led every lap in Baku, converting a tricky qualifying into a controlled race win after doing the same last time out at Monza. Oscar Piastri’s weekend fell apart after a Q3 crash forced overnight repairs. Then a jump-start on the grid, an anti-stall sequence, and a late lock-up into Turn 5 left him in the wall on lap one and out of the race.

Norris started P7 after a disrupted qualifying and spent much of the race stuck behind Yuki Tsunoda in a DRS train and finished seventh. That leaves the title fight finely poised. Piastri is on 324 points, Norris trails with 299, and Verstappen has climbed to 255.

Villeneuve's point is clear. Verstappen has the momentum and pace to turn tricky weekends into maximum points, which makes him the bigger late-season threat, even if Norris is in a superior car.

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Why Max Verstappen is unlikely to win the 2025 drivers’ title

Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri celebrate at Emilia-Romagna GP. Source: Getty

With seven rounds left, the maximum points haul available to a driver is 199 points - 25 points from seven grands prix and 24 points from three sprint events. Max Verstappen is currently 69 points behind Oscar Piastri. Even if the Dutchman won all the remaining events, his total would be 454. If Piastri finishes third in each, he would end on 447, still close enough to hold the crown.

The last time this happened was in 2007, when Kimi Raikkonen overcame a 16-point gap to rookie Lewis Hamilton in the final five races. But in the older 10-points-per-win system, the scale was smaller. Today, with larger totals on offer, the numbers appear different, but the principle remains that closing such a deficit requires both relentless wins and faltering rivals.

McLaren principal Andrea Stella has acknowledged the shift in momentum. While Red Bull’s upgrades in Monza and Baku helped Verstappen, the calendar still leans toward the papaya cars. Singapore, Qatar, and Mexico are high-downforce tracks that have favored McLaren all year.

Max Verstappen (1) leads Lando Norris (4) and Oscar Piastri at Imola. Source: Getty

Norris, meanwhile, is in a position to benefit if Piastri falters again. His consistency over the year and strong qualifying form at technical tracks make him a likelier challenger in the run-in. That view is shared within McLaren, where confidence remains high that the MCL39’s season-long pace will prevail. Piastri himself brushed aside concerns after Baku over Verstappen’s resurgence.

The Australian still leads the championship and has time to steady himself before the final push. For now, Max Verstappen’s back-to-back poles and wins have sharpened the title fight and forced McLaren to confront fresh pressure. But unless the papaya team unravels, the numbers and the circuits ahead make a late title swing more unlikely than inevitable.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar