McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri look set to fight for the Formula 1 drivers’ championship with the Woking outfit starting the season as the team to beat.
Bar the F1 Sprint in Shanghai as Lewis Hamilton picked up his first win for Ferrari, it has been the McLaren show so far in 2025. Norris won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix from pole position and Piastri converted his first pole in F1 into the win at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Neither Norris nor Piastri put together a completely tidy qualifying for the Sprint in Shanghai and they struggled to make much progress in the dirty air. Yet McLaren’s strengths over their rivals with tyre degradation meant normal order was restored in the feature race on Sunday.
Lando Norris ‘nervous and excited’ for close fights with Oscar Piastri in 2025 F1 title fight
Norris’ Australian GP win put the Briton atop the F1 drivers’ championship for the first time in the 25-year-old’s career. He now leads the way with 44 points ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (36), Mercedes’ George Russell (35) and Piastri (34) after taking P2 in Shanghai.
A brake problem nearly cost Norris P2 at the Chinese GP, too, but he fended off Russell’s late charge to come home behind Piastri after struggling to get close to the Australian. Yet Norris is in zero doubt that he and Piastri will have some close fights with the 2025 title on the line.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration
Norris feels it is ‘inevitable’ that he and Piastri will fight wheel-to-wheel at some stage as the McLaren pair fight for supremacy in the same garage and for the title. The 10-point gap that splits them would likely be less without Piastri’s Melbourne spin on dry tyres in the wet, too.
“I’m sure we’re going to have some closer racing at some point,” Norris noted, via quotes by Sky Sports. “I think we’re both excited – probably nervous and excited at the same time – as I’m sure the team will be. But we’re ready.
“We know that as much as we work together and we have a good time and enjoy ourselves, we both know we want to try and beat each other and show who’s best. That’s inevitable. So, there’s no point trying to hide away from that fact or make something of it.”
McLaren can prove their progress by managing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s title fight
McLaren will know it is just a matter of time before Norris and Piastri are banging wheels as the pair look to establish themselves as the favourite for the drivers’ title. It was almost the case in Melbourne, but Piastri’s spin plus McLaren’s team orders ultimately avoided a scrap.
Norris having balance problems with McLaren’s 2025 F1 car at the Chinese GP even delayed the inevitable contest with Piastri as the Briton did not have the pace to challenge. Another lap and Norris could likely have lost P2 to Russell, as well, owing to his brakes fading late on.
READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge
Both will now have their sights set on showing their supremacy at Suzuka, where Norris and Piastri made the podium in 2023. It will also be a sign of how far McLaren have progressed if they manage Norris and Piastri’s fight after their errors cost the Briton in his bid last season.
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