World Championship Battle or Participation Trophy?

Sunday’s F1 race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza marked the 16th round of the season, and the battle at the top of the championship standings couldn’t be tighter. The McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are leading the charge, with defending champion Max Verstappen trailing in third—unfamiliar territory for the Red Bull ace.

In the closing laps, Norris was leading, with Piastri close behind. Both still needed to pit. Over the radio, Norris was asked if he wanted to come in, but instead, he offered the chance to his teammate, a highly unusual move. That almost never happens, the lead car pits first. Nevertheless, Piastri came in and the McLaren crew nailed the fastest pit stop of the race at 1.9 seconds.

That meant Oscar had a lap on fresh tyres while Lando stayed out on his worn set. Norris eventually came in, only for disaster to strike: the team botched the stop, producing the slowest pit of the day at 5.9 seconds. As a result, Piastri jumped ahead on track, a crucial moment in the World Drivers’ Championship that gave the Australian a six-point swing in his favour.

Or so it seemed.

Moments later, Oscar’s engineer came on the radio: hand the position back to Lando, because the overtake was deemed “unfair.” Piastri questioned it, pointing out that slow pit stops are part of racing, but reluctantly obeyed saying “if you want me to, I will” and did the following lap.

Since when did the so-called pinnacle of motorsport boil down to what’s fair? This is Formula 1. It’s supposed to be ruthless, chaotic, adrenaline-fuelled racing. Margins are tiny. Luck plays a part, and fate turns on fractions of a second. Just a week earlier, Lando suffered a mechanical failure that forced him to retire. He also binned it in Canada. Oscar spun out in Melbourne, losing seven positions. That’s racing, you win some, you lose some. Norris was given first choice on the pit call, declined it, and Piastri capitalized. Why should Oscar be punished for his teammate’s slow stop?

Plenty of people have compared Monza 2025 to Hungary 2024, where Norris was pitted first as part of a deliberate team strategy to secure crucial Constructors’ Championship points in a close fight.

Fine.

 But this year, McLaren’s constructors’ title is already secure, they could pack up tomorrow and still win it. At Monza, Verstappen was already in the safety car window, Leclerc was too far behind to pose a threat, and the team still hesitated.

The whole saga made McLaren look weak: the McLaren pit crew for fumbling the stop, the strategists for failing to manage the situation, Norris for inheriting second through team orders, and Piastri for caving when told to hand it back. You’d think that with Mark Webber as his manager, Oscar would know a thing or two about standing firm against dodgy team calls (yes, Multi 21 is still echoing).

This is supposed to be a World Drivers’ Championship battle. Eight races remain, and just 31 points separate the McLaren teammates, it should have been 37 had Oscar held his ground. If this year’s title ends up decided by a pit wall’s warped sense of fairness instead of raw performance, I’ll lose it.

And here’s the real issue: if it comes down to the last race in Abu Dhabi, with the two McLarens nose to tail and something similar happens, do you honestly expect them to swap back? Of course not.

Not a chance.

McLaren are setting themselves up for failure. At best, it breeds endless speculation over which driver the team truly favours. At worst, it throws the legitimacy of the entire championship into doubt.

For a team finally back in contention, that’s a very dangerous game to play.