BARCELONA: Lando Norris can retake the Formula One championship lead from Oscar Piastri in Spain this weekend but both said Max Verstappen remained a threat and the battle was not just a duel between McLaren team-mates.

McLaren’s top two are separated by three points in the standings after eight of 24 races and the champions have won six times this year — Piastri with four to Norris’s two.

Norris led for the first time after winning the season-opener in Melbourne before ceding the advantage to Piastri in round five in Saudi Arabia but closed the gap again by winning in Monaco last Sunday.

Red Bull’s Verstappen, the four-time world champion, has won twice and is third, 25 points behind Piastri.

“I think mathematically probably the whole grid can win the championship. I think there’s plenty of opportunities,” said Norris. “Max can still win, I think Ferrari — I expect them to get better into the season.

“Max has been on the podium several times, he’s won races, he beat us in Imola fair and square beca­use he was quicker. I don’t know what possibly makes you think that it’s only bet­w­een us [McLaren drivers].”

Spain is a favourite track for Verstappen, the place where he won for the first time in 2016, and Piastri expected the Dutch driver to go well again on Sunday.

“I don’t think he can be counted out,” the Austra­lian told reporters. “The gap is not very large at the moment and they’ve been competitive at a decent number of circuits now.

“Of course there’s been weekends where we’ve been stronger but I think they’ve been developing their car. So I think at this point Max is definitely still in the title.”

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2025