The 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was supposed to be another thrilling chapter in the championship battle, but instead it ignited a firestorm of controversy that could shake McLaren to its core. What began as a disastrous weekend for Oscar Piastri has now spiraled into something far darker, with shocking whispers of sabotage swirling through the paddock.
The Australian star—who entered Baku with a slender lead in the drivers’ standings—endured a nightmare from start to finish. A costly crash in qualifying, an anti-stall glitch at the start, a five-second penalty, and finally, a devastating crash at Turn 5 that ended his race before it had even begun. Fans were left stunned. Analysts were baffled. And within hours, speculation began: Was Piastri simply cracking under pressure—or was something more sinister at play inside the McLaren garage?
Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that teammate Lando Norris, though far from perfect, managed to keep his race alive and salvage a points finish in P7. With Piastri eliminated, Norris extended his championship lead to 25 points—a swing that dramatically alters the trajectory of the season. And yet, the victory for Norris came against a backdrop of unease, as murmurs of “unusual setup changes” to Piastri’s car began to leak from sources close to the team.
The timing could not be worse. McLaren insists they operate a “no number one driver” policy, but critics point to Hungary—where strategy decisions seemed to tilt suspiciously in Norris’s favor—as proof that the young Brit is the golden 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 of Woking. Now, with Baku in the spotlight, some are asking if Piastri’s misfortune is just coincidence… or if his car has been compromised.
Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows is Max Verstappen. The four-time world champion has clawed his way back into contention, delivering two consecutive wins and reminding the paddock why he remains the most ruthless closer in the sport. With 224 points still on the table, Verstappen is poised to capitalize on every crack in McLaren’s fragile driver dynamic. “Never write Max off,” warned one former champion. “He thrives when his rivals implode—and right now, McLaren looks like it’s eating itself alive.”
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team principal, tried to downplay the chaos, calling Piastri’s mistakes “costly but human.” But his remarks did little to silence speculation that the team’s internal balance is slipping. For Piastri, the disaster in Baku was more than just a DNF—it was a psychological blow that could haunt him in the remaining seven races. His own words after the crash were strikingly humble: “It was certainly not my finest moment; I anticipated the start too much.” But behind the humility lies the undeniable truth: two major errors in one weekend have given his critics ammunition—and his rivals hope.
Now, all eyes turn to Singapore. The tight, unforgiving street circuit is a crucible where mistakes are punished mercilessly and team orders can make or break a championship campaign. For Piastri, it is nothing short of a do-or-die moment. Can he silence the whispers, prove the doubters wrong, and claw back momentum? Or will the suspicions of favoritism and sabotage continue to erode his title challenge from within?
The Formula 1 world is watching closely, because this isn’t just a battle between drivers anymore—it’s a high-stakes saga of loyalty, power, and the invisible forces shaping the championship fight. If Baku was the spark, Singapore could be the inferno that decides the fate of the 2025 season.
The question remains: is Oscar Piastri fighting his rivals on the track—or his own team in the garage?
