McLaren's team principal Andrea Stella has stated that his team 'have to accept the fight' with Max Verstappen and Red Bull as the 2025 season draws to a close.
The Dutch driver has made a strong comeback with a late-season surge. As this weekend's United States Grand Prix approaches, Oscar Piastri, the current leader in the Drivers' Championship, is 63 points ahead of Verstappen.
However, the Australian hasn't managed to finish ahead of Red Bull's leading man in the last three races, indicating a shift in momentum towards the reigning world champion.
Prior to the Singapore Grand Prix, Helmut Marko suggested that Red Bull's performance at the Marina Bay Street Circuit - traditionally a stumbling block for the team - would indicate whether they are genuinely in contention with McLaren in the upcoming six races. Verstappen's RB21 passed the test with flying colours.
"They were competitive in Monza, very competitive," Stella commented ahead of the Austin race. "And then they were competitive in Baku. We thought, 'Let's see whether this [competitiveness] depends on using a low level of drag, small rear wings, and [if] it can be repeated at high level drag and big rear wings'.
"Here in Singapore, they might have struggled a bit in the past, and the evidence is that they might have resolved both of these high-drag and Singapore factors. But this is not a surprise."
"It's Red Bull. They are extremely capable. Max is a driver who is just Max Verstappen. I don't think we need to make any further comments, so it's no surprise that they are in the game.
"It's tight, and it's interesting; obviously, we would like to make Formula One boring. We have done it sometimes, at some of the events, but normally, Formula One is competitive and tight. You have to accept the fight, and that's what we are doing."
Whilst Red Bull have repositioned their car to challenge McLaren once more, Verstappen isn't Piastri's biggest headache in the championship battle.
That honour belongs to the Australian's teammate, Lando Norris, who has outperformed him across six of the previous eight Grand Prix weekends.
The Briton appeared to be finished after his mechanical nightmare at the Dutch Grand Prix, yet he's fought back to sit just 22 points behind Piastri with six rounds left to run.