Max Verstappen's father, Jos, had joined the great debate over Oscar Piastri's recent slump and has urged the Australian to "fight back".

Though the Dutchman refuses to suggest that McLaren is, as many conspiracy theorists suggest, favouring the Australian's British teammate, Verstappen admits that the situation is strange.

"I find what's happening at McLaren quite strange," he tells De Telegraaf. "Piastri hasn't suddenly forgotten how to drive, has he?

"If I were him, or his manager, I would bang my fist on the table internally," adds the former F1 driver, who has banged his fist quite a few times over the years. "Because now everyone is wondering whether he can handle the pressure. And that's not good for your own name, Piastri's in this case."

At a time the likes of Bernie Ecclestone are suggesting that the Woking outfit is favouring Lando Norris, Verstappen admits: "It may automatically seem that way, but I have no insight into that.

"However, if I were Piastri, I would fight back now. Everyone assumed he would become champion, and that image has now changed very quickly."

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1. Posted by ARL, 07/11/2025 21:57

"Now, just to get this straight. If Oscar ekes out a lead on Norris, then we have an example of Norris bottling it ('cos he's a fragile wee soul and can forget how to drive), but if Norris ekes out a lead on Oscar then it's all a papaya conspiracy 'cos Oscar is incapable of forgetting how to drive. Simples.

Just as well that Jos and Bernie have no form for stirring the proverbial for the personal media exposure or wrong-footing the competition to Max.

In the old days Enzo would just start negotiations for the following year with anyone competing with his team for the championship. Discussions that would collapse once the competitors had been distracted enough.

What would Enzo and his cohorts have done in the world of social media?"

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2. Posted by Chester, 07/11/2025 12:10

"Me thinks ol' Jos is good at smelling rats. But hey, we on this board, know better. Nothing to see."

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3. Posted by kenji, 07/11/2025 1:45

"I never thought that I'd agree with anything Jos Verstappen ever suggested but in this I tend to agree that he has a point! These so called papaya rules are simply a ruse to protect certain elements from being sorted out on the track. Anything that restricts how a driver goes about winning a race on merit is anathema to me."

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Fight back, Jos Verstappen urges Piastri

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