McLaren boss Andrea Stella has admitted Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris "could have done a better job" at recent races but insists the drivers' title remains "in our hands" amid Max Verstappen's surge into contention.

For much of the season it had appeared to be a two-horse race for the Drivers' Championship between the McLaren pair, but Red Bull's Verstappen has won three of the last four races to move within 40 points of leader Piastri, who is 14 points ahead of Norris.

The Dutchman trailed by 104 points after the Dutch Grand Prix in August but has taken advantage of a drop-off in Piastri's form to close in, with a Sprint and Grand Prix double over the weekend in Austin leading Verstappen to declare that he "has a chance" of claiming a fifth successive' drivers' title.

With five rounds

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