McLaren are making the right decision in allowing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to battle it out for the Formula One title, so says Max Verstappen.

A statement ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend confirmed that McLaren are prepared to allow championship leader Norris, and team-mate Piastri, to race, rather than being issued with team orders, while there is still a mathematical chance that both could win the title.

Norris leads Piastri and Verstappen by 24 points heading into the penultimate Grand Prix of 2025.

And Verstappen joked that he would have told Red Bull to "f off" if they had instructed him to allow his team-mate an easy ride in such a scenario.

"No, it's perfect, I think!" he said.

"I think you can't do a better job than allowing them to race as well. Why would you suddenly now say that Oscar wouldn't be allowed anymore to fight? I mean, if that was said to me, I would have not rocked up. I would have told them to F off.

Bring on the sprint action #McLaren | #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/AdiSdG35DO

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) November 28, 2025

"So yeah, if you're a real winner and a racer as a driver, then you go for it. I mean, even if you're behind, what's the point otherwise to turning up? Otherwise, you can easily just label yourself as a number two driver, which I think he doesn't want to be.

"I know that I'm equal on points with Oscar. A lot still needs to go right [to be champion].

"But I think it should be like that, that they are free to race and hopefully we can make it a great battle till the end."

Both Norris and Piastri were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix last week, enabling four-time defending champion Verstappen to close the gap and set up an intriguing end to the season.