Australian Formula 1 title contender Oscar Piastri has denied there is any sabotage going on at his team McLaren.
Piastri had a 34 point lead over McLaren team-mate Lando Norris after winning the Netherlands Grand Prix on August 31, but is now a single point behind the Brit with four races to go.
There has been speculation, also recently fuelled by reigning four-time champion Max Verstappen, that McLaren have been favouring Norris over Piastri in the driver's championship battle.
However, when directly asked about the speculation ahead of this weekend's Brazil Grand Prix, Piastri rejected any suggestion his team wasn't equally behind both himself and Norris.
MORE: How Oscar Piastri lost his mammoth F1 title lead
“No, it’s not the case,” Piastri said when asked about any team sabotage.
“I think the last couple of weekends have been a little bit more tricky, but we’ve got pretty clear answers on why that’s the case. There’s not really too many mysteries on what’s happened.
“I think there’s some questions on why some differences have cropped up in terms of how I need to drive and stuff like that, but everything is explainable, so there’s definitely none of that going on.”
But Verstappen, who has won the last four F1 titles consecutively, stoked the tension at McLaren suggesting Piastri should have questions about about what is happening at his team.
“I find what’s happening at McLaren quite strange,” Verstappen told Dutch publication De Telegraaf.
“Piastri hasn’t suddenly forgotten how to drive, has he?
“If I were him, or his manager, I would bang my fist on the table internally.
“Because now everyone is wondering whether he can handle the pressure. And that’s not good for your own name, Piastri’s in this case.”