McLaren title rivals looking warily for Max’s late charge

MCLAREN'S duelling pair of world championship leader Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will be looking warily in their rear-view mirrors this weekend at the United States Grand Prix for Max Verstappen.

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With six rounds remaining the two McLarens are separated by just 22 points, with four-time champion Verstappen adrift of Piastri by 63 points but revelling in his recent form after beating both in the last three races.

Red Bull's Verstappen has turned a seemingly lost cause into a thrilling late, if unexpected, charge for a fifth title. Jacques Villeneuve, who won the title in 1997, believes the Dutchman can do it and told Italian daily La Gazetta dello Sport that it will be his "best world championship".

"The two McLaren drivers are suffering too much from the pressure and they need to wake up," he said.

This weekend's race at the Circuit of the Americas will pit the McLaren men in a car that has not been updated in recent weeks against a much-revised and potent Red Bull.