Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris became the first McLaren duo to deliver the F1 constructors’ championship since 1998 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend. David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen were the last pairing to achieve that feat.
Piastri and Norris combined for 666 points, 14 more than nearest challengers Ferrari. The Englishman was responsible for 374 of those, or around 56%.
Norris thrashed Piastri 20-4 in qualifying, winning 8-0 in the pole stakes. The margin in the races was smaller but Norris still prevailed 16-8.
| Category | Lando Norris | Oscar Piastri |
| 2024 points | 374 | 292 |
| Grand Prix results | 16 | 8 |
| Grand Prix qualifying | 20 | 4 |
| Grand Prix wins | 4 | 2 |
| Grand Prix poles | 8 | 0 |
| Grand Prix podiums | 13 | 8 |
| Best finish | 1st | 1st |
| Retirements | 0 | 0 |
| Retirements (classified finish) | 1 | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 6 | 1 |
| Grand Prix points finishes | 23 | 23 |
| Sprint results | 3 | 3 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 4 | 2 |
| Sprint wins | 1 | 1 |
| Sprint poles | 2 | 1 |
| Sprint podiums | 4 | 3 |
When Piastri had a run of six podiums in eight races either side of the summer break (including his first two F1 victories), he looked capable of beating Norris in the championship. But a four-race slump afterwards, where he only scored 34 points, quashed those ambitions.
Still, it’s worth remembering that this was only his second season in F1. Norris recently passed 125 race starts, while Piastri is yet to hit 50.
The 23-year-old is about where an elite young driver should be at this stage of development. If he takes another step in 2025, then an intra-McLaren title battle could be gripping.
Oscar Piastri says Lando Norris victory fights could turn McLaren into 2016 Mercedes
McLaren have seemingly maintained harmony in their garage this season even after becoming F1’s fastest team. The most obvious sign of this came at the penultimate race in Qatar.
Piastri was subject to team orders as Norris tried to close in on Max Verstappen, which meant he had to relinquish a victory in the Sao Paulo GP Sprint. However, his teammate repaid him at Lusail, pulling over on the run to the line to give up a win himself.
Still, Piastri admits their relationship could follow the Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg path. They were close friends when Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013, but by their final year together (2016), they were hardly on speaking terms.
Piastri says ‘tension’ is inevitable when the two drivers directly compete for victory. And he’s warned both McLaren and Norris that they can’t be ‘true friends’ long-term.
“If we’re fighting for first and second every weekend, then there’s always a little bit more tension, I guess,” Piastri told The Gentleman’s Journal. “We’ve seen in the past, look at Lewis and Nico, when you’re fighting for first and second, that’s when things can sometimes change a little bit.
“We’ve been in a position like that a few times now. It is difficult to have true friends on the grid, because at the end of the day, you’re trying to beat them all the time.”
Lando Norris may copy one tactic Nico Rosberg used against Lewis Hamilton
Former Haas F1 team boss Guenther Steiner has already predicted a ‘Rosberg-Hamilton’ situation at McLaren. But there’s one key difference.
Between 2014 and 2016, Mercedes were untouchable at the front of the field. Hamilton and Rosberg knew that they would be champion if they beat their teammate over the course of a season.
But that won’t be enough in 2025. Piastri and Norris are trying to dethrone Verstappen, and could also face stronger competition from Ferrari and Mercedes.
According to Nate Saunders, Norris has ‘realised’ he must be as single-minded as Rosberg next year to dethrone Verstappen. He’s up against a ‘stone-blooded killer’ who hasn’t been toppled since 2021.
Leave feedback about this