Brundle: McLaren’s real weapon isn’t pace — it’s two drivers versus one
Martin Brundle isn’t dressing it up. If McLaren are going to finish what they started in 2025, they’ll need to use the one thing Red Bull can’t match: two fully live title shots against Max Verstappen’s one-man surge.
The Sky Sports pundit sees Red Bull’s form swing clearly enough. As he pointed out in his post–Austin debrief, Verstappen has hoovered up 119 of the last 133 points on offer and sliced a 60-point chunk out of Oscar Piastri’s lead across the past four events. The gap, by Brundle’s count, is now down to 40. That’s not just momentum; that’s a stampede.
And yet, for all of Verstappen’s cruelty in the details, Brundle believes McLaren still hold the ace. Not on a stopwatch, not in wind-tunnel numbers — in headcount.
“Two against one” only matters if you use it
There’s no hiding that Red Bull’s second car hasn’t carried much weight in the title fight. With Yuki Tsunoda mired in the lower reaches of the standings, Verstappen is essentially dragging the campaign alone. That’s lethal on Sundays when it all lines up, but fragile across a long-haul title chase where strategy, track position and team play add up.
McLaren’s “papaya rules” — the broadly even-handed let-them-race policy that endeared them to neutrals earlier in the year — looked like a posture of confidence when they had clear air. Now, with Verstappen’s form turning vicious, the romanticism will meet pragmatism. Brundle’s warning was blunt: the two-car advantage only pays if you play it perfectly, every single weekend, all the way to Abu Dhabi.
What does playing it look like? It’s the unglamorous stuff. Split tyre offsets to box Verstappen in. Qualifying tows to lock out the front row rather than chase individual glory. Sacrificial undercuts to force Red Bull’s hand. DRS choreography. No repeats of Turn 1 heroics on your own teammate. The margin between smart and soft will be measured in pit-exit metres, not slogans.
Austin’s Sprint served the cautionary tale
The weekend’s loudest moment was McLaren making themselves the story for the wrong reason. Oscar Piastri’s Turn 1 move in the Sprint — aggressive, legal, textbook if you’re fighting a rival mid-race — detonated the team’s afternoon when the accordion effect did what it always does off the line. Piastri clouted Lando Norris, broke the rear of the sister car and his own front end, and left Verstappen up the road with a clear brief.
Brundle called it a “significant moment” in the title narrative, and he’s right. In isolation, it’s a racing incident. In context, it’s a reminder: you cannot take swings at your teammate at the start when the other guy in this fight never wastes freebies. McLaren gave Red Bull exactly the sort of low-effort points haul they can’t afford to hand out in October and November.
Is the balance of power shifting?
Brundle reckons the Red Bull is now the better all-round package, and on current evidence you’d struggle to argue. It’s not dominant in the 2023 sense, but it’s predictable, kind on its tyres and ruthless in Verstappen’s hands. McLaren still have plenty of circuits coming that should flatter their car, but relying on track characteristics is the sort of hope that disappears the first time you get stuck behind a car you should’ve cleared yesterday.
This is the moment where Andrea Stella’s pit wall proves it can conduct as well as it can develop. Norris and Piastri have been allowed to throw jabs. Now’s the time for combinations. There’s no shame in codifying priorities when a title’s on the line — Ferrari did it for years, Mercedes did it when it counted. If McLaren are serious about shutting the door on Verstappen, the soft edges need sanding down.
The takeaway
Verstappen’s late-season punch is real, and it’s landing. But McLaren still control the geometry of the fight. Two sharp drivers in one quick car beat one great driver in a slightly better one — if, and only if, the team makes it a collective operation.
Brundle’s right: the ace is in Woking’s hand. Whether they lay it down or fumble it at Turn 1 again will decide this championship far more than any wind-tunnel delta.
