Lando Norris is by far McLaren’s best hope of seeing off Max Verstappen’s comeback in the F1 title fight.

McLaren refuse to choose between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (Image: Getty)

It was no surprise at all on Sunday night to see McLaren boss Andrea Stella continue to insist they still refuse to prioritise one driver over the other in this Formula 1 title race. But it will be stunning if that stance doesn’t change shortly after the lights go out in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, because McLaren will never live it down if these final three weekends end with neither Lando Norris nor Oscar Piastri wearing the crown.

Max Verstappen is one of elite sport’s true juggernauts and, under most circumstances, losing out to the Dutchman is nothing to be embarrassed about. But it was only two weeks ago that he was a rank outsider in the title battle, 49 points adrift with three rounds remaining. Heading into the finale this weekend, he is second in the standings and only 12 behind championship leader Norris.

As Verstappen himself said, he has been let back into this fight because of some huge McLaren errors. First there was the double disqualification in Las Vegas, a terrible miscalculation in terms of how close to the floor McLaren could legally run their cars causing them to be thrown out.

Then, in Qatar on Sunday, the Red Bull racer was left smirking again by another calamity, this time the decision to bring neither Piastri nor Norris in for a cheap pit stop during an early safety car period.

One more poor decision in Abu Dhabi could end up completing one of the most extraordinary examples of self-destruction F1 has ever seen. And we have reached the point where failing to put their eggs into Norris’ basket would indeed be a stinker of a call.

Max Verstappen is on the charge and could take the title off McLaren if they make one more blunder (Image: Getty)

Piastri is four points behind Verstappen but 16 adrift of Norris. Even if the Aussie wins, he needs his team-mate to be sixth at best. Barring a crash, mechanical failure or some other abnormal circumstance, it’s very hard to see Norris being that low on pure pace. It also means there is no conceivable circumstance in which McLaren could use Norris to help Piastri.

But it’s likely the Aussie could be asked to lend his team-mate a helping hand and, if that happens, it’s hard to see McLaren sticking to their no interference policy. For example, say Verstappen has qualified on pole and then cantered off into the distance. If the Dutchman wins, then Norris needs to finish third or higher to secure the title.

So if Norris is running fourth behind his team-mate, it would be bonkers for McLaren not to tell Piastri to let the other papaya car through. But Stella said on Sunday that they will not intervene while both their drivers are “in condition to win the world championship”.

Where is the line drawn with that? Verstappen could get smashed off the road or suffer an engine failure at any point, so when is Piastri not “in condition” as far as McLaren are concerned? McLaren’s insistence on following their ‘papaya rules’ has led to this frustrating ambiguity when there are endless potential outcomes.

CEO Zak Brown recently said he would rather Verstappen beat them to the title than prioritise one of his own drivers. A noble stance but, in the cut-throat world of F1, also a naïve one. And one that serial winners like Red Bull would never even entertain the idea of adopting.