Formula 1 News: McLaren to get ‘more nervous’ for title showdown – Jos Verstappen

(GMM) Max Verstappen’s father and co-manager (pictured) says the dramatic Las Vegas disqualifications have given his son a sudden surge of momentum – and he believes McLaren will now feel the pressure in the final two race weekends.

“The title race isn’t completely open yet, but it is a bit more open,” Jos Verstappen told Dutch publication Formule 1 when asked about Lando and Norris being excluded from the official results on Sunday.

“This is definitely a huge stroke of luck for Max, that’s for sure.”

Jos said the events in Vegas – combined with McLaren’s late-race radio message telling Norris to “go and get Max” – will only strengthen the Red Bull driver’s mindset.

“This just gives Max extra positive energy,” he said. “Just hearing and reading about the effect McLaren’s radio comment has on Max, you can imagine it’s an added motivation.

“And McLaren will only get more nervous. They can’t afford anything more now.”

Jos was also critical of Norris’ move at the start, when the polesitter closed the door sharply on Verstappen – and ran wide as a result.

“That was too aggressive,” he said. “It was a close call between the two cars, and then they would both have been out of the race. The problem is that Lando is only focused on Max, Max, Max – but meanwhile he simply forgets to brake for the first corner.

“Max braked at least five meters earlier. So you could call that a mistake too.

“And Zak Brown has often talked about Max’s driving style, saying he finds him too aggressive at the start, but I’m sure he’ll have to address his own driver now.”

Jos did not hide his disbelief at McLaren’s technical breach.

“This is a huge mistake by McLaren – a huge blunder indeed,” he said. “Because why would they really push the limit like that? Maybe it really was a mistake, but maybe the car simply wouldn’t perform as well otherwise, and they had to do this.”

According to Jos, Max already knew the ruling before it was public.

“I spoke to Max briefly before leaving,” he revealed. “He was already on the plane to Monaco when the disqualification was confirmed, but he already knew they were going to be disqualified.”

With Qatar next on the calendar, Jos believes the championship dynamics have shifted sharply and suddenly.

“The pressure is on at McLaren now, and they’ll feel it,” he said. “It’s still true that if Max wins the remaining races and Norris finishes second every time, Norris will be world champion.

“But Oscar Piastri is also there, and he won’t be thrilled right now either. You can clearly see a difference between the two McLarens on track – how they handle corners. One slides, the other doesn’t – and that raises questions.

“In any case, it’s going to be a very exciting finale to the season. For Max, everything has to go his way. But he still has nothing to lose and can go all-out on the attack. And he will.”