McLaren is making things more complicated for itself

Oscar Piastri’s championship challenge appears to be slipping away, as momentum - though Lando Norris denies its existence - swings firmly toward his McLaren teammate.

After a flawless weekend in Brazil, where Norris extended his lead to 24 points, the championship leader told RTBF he was not getting carried away.

"I don’t believe in momentum," he said. "But it was a superb weekend for me.

"I managed to maximise every session, I’m very satisfied - the whole team performed well. But I’m going home, I’m going to sleep, I’m going to forget all this and think about Las Vegas."

Piastri, once viewed as the cool-headed favourite for the title, has endured a rough stretch of form and growing speculation of internal favouritism within McLaren.

But four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, speaking to Sky Germany, believes the young Australian needs space rather than scrutiny.

"First of all, he needs peace and quiet," said Vettel. "I don’t think anyone should explain to him what went wrong - he knows exactly what happened.

"In a situation like this, everyone needs someone to stand by them and give them support. He has those people in the team. Now is the time to give him that support so that he can move on and drive freely again."

Another quadruple world champion, Alain Prost, who famously fell out with Ayrton Senna during his McLaren years, said he doubts the team is deliberately favouring Norris - but believes its attempts at fairness are backfiring.

"I don’t think McLaren can afford to favour one of its drivers," he told L’Equipe.

"Rather, I believe McLaren is making things more complicated for itself by trying too hard to keep the game fair, and by always looking for someone to blame when things don’t go to plan."

The three-way title fight that was brewing prior to Brazil has effectively now narrowed to two, as Max Verstappen’s faint hopes all but vanished after a difficult weekend in Sao Paulo.

Toto Wolff agrees the defending champion’s run is basically over.

"That ship has sailed," the Mercedes boss said. "McLaren just have to let their drivers race - without touching each other. The gap Lando has now is very solid."

Still, Wolff praised the Dutchman’s fighting spirit.

"His drive in Brazil was a reminder of why he’s a four-time world champion," he added.