Guenther Steiner makes Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris team orders prediction after the Spanish Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead over Lando Norris to 10 points with his fifth win of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Aussie claimed pole position by over two tenths from his McLaren teammate, the largest pole margin of the 2025 season. Piastri went mostly unchallenged throughout the Spanish Grand Prix as he beat Norris by just under 2.5 seconds.

Karun Chandhok was impressed by Piastri’s latest victory as he extends his lead in the championship over teammate Norris heading into the Canadian Grand Prix.

McLaren are now almost 200 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship after securing their third 1-2 of the season. The Woking outfit look almost guaranteed to win the title, and their drivers’ championship aspirations were given a major boost in Barcelona.

Max Verstappen has been Piastri and Norris’ closest rival, with two wins this season thus far. But the Red Bull driver damaged his championship hopes as Verstappen was hit with a 10-second time penalty for colliding with George Russell on lap 64.

The Dutchman also received three penalty points on his superlicence from the FIA, leaving him one point away from a race ban. Verstappen was demoted to 10th following the incident, putting him 49 points behind Piastri and opening the door for McLaren to pull away.

Guenther Steiner thinks McLaren will let Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris battle ‘until the end’ of the season

Piastri and Norris have been free to fight each other in the opening nine rounds of 2025. Zak Brown is not looking to use team orders while both drivers are in contention for the title; the former played second fiddle to the latter in 2024.

Mika Hakkinen says McLaren must support one driver come the end of the season to wrap up the title. But after Verstappen dropped points in Spain, Guenther Steiner thinks the team will now let Piastri and Norris race each other ‘until the end’ of the season.

“Zak and Andrea are very good at that. As long as there is no threat from behind, I think they let them race,” he said via talkSPORT.

“And at the moment with, especially what happened yesterday with Max scoring only one point, Max is quite far away now.

“I don’t think it’s over, but it’s getting close to be over that anyone else around McLaren can win the championship. If one of the two wins the championship, I don’t think McLaren has got a favourite son here.

“The manufacturers, that’s almost done because Red Bull races normally only with one car in the top positions, the Ferraris and the Mercedes, they’re up and down a little bit.

“But I think they let them race and if nobody comes from behind, I think they let them race until the end.”

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Lando Norris must show mental strength to beat Oscar Piastri in 2025

Many expected Norris to be the favourite for the 2025 title, but his teammate has shown remarkable improvement after finishing 82 points behind the Brit in 2024. Nico Rosberg thinks Piastri has overcome an ‘Achilles’ heel’ with race pace, having beaten Norris five times thus far.

Qualifying has also been key to Piastri’s success, with four poles to Norris’ two. Mistakes from the latter on Saturday have proved costly, particularly in Bahrain and Jeddah.

Norris was annoyed by Piastri’s pole in Barcelona as his body language spoke volumes. He no longer has the upper hand at McLaren and the 25-year-old has kept up his old habit of being self-critical of his mistakes.

Franz Tost says Piastri is mentally stronger than Norris, with his flat personality proving an advantage for the Aussie. Rosberg says Zak Brown must feed positivity to Norris so he can get his head in the place to battle his teammate for the championship.