Herbert: McLaren team orders gives Verstappen F1 title chance
F1 NewsThursday, 11 September 2025 at 08:00
Johnny Herbert believes Max Verstappen’s dominant Italian Grand Prix win has reopened the door, albeit slightly, to a 2025 Formula 1 World Championship showdown with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, despite the British team still holding the upper hand.
While Verrstappen's masterclass has been universally hailed for his magnificent victory on Sunday at Monza, McLaren found themselves having to explain why they swapped their Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri during the race to compensate for a pitstop fumble on Lando's pitstop.
Weighing in on the McLaren conundrum, Grand Prix winner turned pundit told Adventure Gamers: “There is always a chance. As we saw with Oscar and Lando and how close that battle was, one little mishap makes a big difference. So, it could potentially bring Max much closer to that battle with Oscar
"Do we really expect McLaren to suddenly suffer reliability issues or a ‘war’ between Lando and Oscar? I’d be very surprised, but this is racing and it does happen. It was a surprise it happened to Lando in Holland and you only need, for example, that one squeeze with Max and Lando to go slightly awry and one of them or both of them could have gone out of the race.”
Herbert pointed to Verstappen’s ability to capitalise if McLaren falter: “We’re seeing a very shrewd Oscar. Max still has a very outside chance. All he can do is keep himself out of trouble, win those races and then it’s down to a little bit of luck coming your way."
Norris versus Piastri and the role of team orders
On Verstappen still factoring in this title race, Herbert said: "I think there’s an outside chance for Max. Red Bull still have the car that can do it, but can it do it at all the tracks that are remaining? That’s probably the biggest question mark. It was a bad weekend for McLaren but they finished second and third.”
The late switch that put Norris ahead of Piastri in Monza was, for Herbert, another reminder of the increasing influence of team orders in Formula 1: “Piastri needs McLaren to win and they reminded him of that with team orders.
"It’s not the first time we’ve seen it in Formula 1. It’s becoming a bigger thing now because it’s all about the team. It wasn’t Lando’s fault but as Oscar said, ‘Well, that’s racing.’ And he’s right because that’s how racing goes. It doesn’t always go smoothly in a race situation.
"The team takes it on board and says we made the mistake, so we need to give Lando back because he was ahead of Oscar at that point, which then goes back to the Hungarian race last year. I’m a bit like Oscar. I do say that it is racing. But the team is always a big part of it, and they make sure the drivers hear it, they make sure we hear it. Basically, ‘You need us to win.’”
Herbert: We race to win that world championship
Asked how Verstappen or his former teammate Michael Schumacher would have handled such a scenario, Herbert said: “Let me throw a curveball in. If we didn’t have what happened in Zandvoort, how would Oscar play that one? It comes down to the selfishness of the driver and how much you want to have that world championship.
"In my head, if I had that trophy on my mantelpiece at the end of the year and the team had got rid of me because I had not followed orders, I’d rather have that trophy on that mantelpiece and lose my drive. That’s what we race for. We race to win that world championship. Then the whole dynamic changes from within the driver.
"Following orders could lose me the world championship. So, do I play the game, or do I play my game, my selfish game? Max, I think, would probably play hard and so would Michael Schumacher. It can cause very heavy damage in effect. McLaren are trying to make it as fair as they possibly can, but racing is racing. Racing is not always kind."
"When I was racing, there was a team, but we were the drivers. And it was almost handed over to us to do what we could. Sometimes it went right, sometimes it went wrong. Team orders now are not the pure racing, and I think that’s what Oscar would say," ventured Herbert.
A three-way battle for the 2025 F1 title at the season final in Abu Dhabi?
Despite McLaren’s consistent form, Herbert insists Verstappen’s genius is still what leaves the biggest impression: “I don’t get wowed with what McLaren do. I’m impressed with what they achieve and what they put on the circuit to supply the drivers the ability to win races and win a world championship this year.
"What I get wowed by are those Max laps, those Lewis laps, Schumacher races and all the history that’s part of it. That’s what excites me, and I think I’d probably be right in saying that’s what the big majority of fans are," reckoned Herbert.
After Round 16 of this year's F1 title race, Piastri remains in the lead of the Drivers' standings on 324 points, followed by his McLaren teammate Norris on 293 and Verstappen on 260 in P3. However, Red Bull's reigning World Championship closed the gap by ten points. and is now only 33 points off Lando.
As it stands, Piastri has seven GP victories to his name so far, with Norris on five and Verstappen now on three. The Dutch ace is targeting a fifth title ion a row, while his rivals would be winning it for the first time.
A few more ten-plus points hauls over his rivals in the coming races by Verstappen, and we could well have a three-way battle for the title at the Abu Dhabi finale. There are eight rounds remaining in the Championship, with the Azebaijan Grand Prix on 21 September.
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