Max Verstappen's spectacular victory, which in hindsight is not so surprising, is a topic of conversation not only among fans but also in the industry. While many praise the Red Bull star, others blame McLaren for the opportunities thrown away one after another...
It is not even certain that it is unjustified. Jacques Villeneuve acted exactly like this, not hiding his sharp opinion as is his custom:
“We saw a huge weakness from McLaren, there is no breakthrough power that would be expected from a championship contender. It's as if they are afraid of building a competitive car that could contend for the individual championship title. Instead, they don't even dare to risk an internal team decision when Lando Norris found himself in a position due to Oscar Piastri's mistake.
Piastri messed up the start, he lacked the pace, while Norris had it, especially after the restart. Yet they didn't dare to swap them, even though it was clear that he would be in a good position to fight for a strong result. Possibly even for the win... So why did they stick Piastri behind, why didn't they switch them?
It seems that they are perfectly satisfied with 2nd or 3rd place, while looking at the competitiveness of their technology, anything outside of 1st or 2nd is a failure. This is the real weakness, cowardice, and as long as they represent this mentality, they do not deserve the championship title!” - said Villeneuve...
Photo: Getty Images
