Overview

• Team principal Andrea Stella said Verstappen is “absolutely” in the championship fight after the Red Bull driver’s Monza and Baku victories cut the gap to 69 points to Oscar Piastri and 44 to Lando Norris.
• McLaren’s Azerbaijan setback featured Piastri’s lap-one retirement and Norris’s seventh place, with Stella citing reliability and execution issues as lessons before the next round.
• Guenther Steiner and Jacques Villeneuve urged McLaren to prioritize Piastri to protect the drivers’ crown, warning that equal treatment could open the door for Verstappen.
• Red Bull’s recent performance has been widely attributed to a new floor, with team boss Laurent Mekies vowing to keep pushing as Singapore is viewed as a key test of whether gains carry to higher-downforce tracks.
• Ferrari’s struggles continued with eighth and ninth in Baku, allowing Mercedes to move into second in the Constructors’ standings, as external criticism and reports of internal tensions intensified.