Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will do battle for the third time at McLaren this year. Norris was comfortably quicker in Piastri’s rookie season, but the gap closed significantly last term.
Piastri was just 32 points behind Norris when he claimed his second career victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in mid-September. That made him an outsider in the F1 title race.
However, by the end of the season, the gap had grown by 50 points. Piastri suffered a late slump – eighth in Mexico, eighth in Brazil and seventh in Las Vegas. Norris won the season finale in Abu Dhabi while his teammate could only manage 10th after a first-corner tangle with Max Verstappen.
If McLaren retain the slight performance advantage they had for much of the 2024 season, it’s feasible that their two drivers will fight for the title this year. But both of them need to eradicate certain weaknesses to become champions.
Norris has promised his fans he won’t make the same mistakes this year after arguably letting Verstappen off the hook. He didn’t look prepared for the strategic demands of a title fight.
McLaren want Piastri to improve in qualifying, where he lost 21-3 to Norris last year. And he must also eradicate the off weekends that a driver like Verstappen simply doesn’t have.
Oscar Piastri outpaces Lando Norris in McLaren tyre test
Both McLaren drivers were at the Paul Ricard circuit in France this week testing Pirelli’s wet-weather tyres for the 2026 season. To simulate the reduced levels of downforce in the next generation of cars, there were modifications to the MCL60 – McLaren’s 2023 challenger.
Piastri and Norris also drove on a short, 3.5km layout, rather than the 5.8-mile configuration used for the French Grand Prix until it dropped off the calendar in 2023. Pirelli watered the track using sprinklers.
On day one, Piastri’s run plan was disrupted by ‘adverse’ conditions, according to AutoRacer. But he still managed to complete 120 laps, setting a best time of 1:07.008.
| 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 | 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 |
Norris took over on day two, completing 40km more than his teammate. But he only managed a 1:07.956, nearly a second slower.
Pirelli say it’s difficult to equalise the track conditions, even with the sprinklers. It’s also not known how much the two drivers were pushing.
But it’s intriguing nonetheless that Piastri was so much faster. McLaren will join Ferrari for a dry-weather tyre test in Barcelona next week.
Oscar Piastri accused of making one ‘dirty’ move against Lando Norris
Piastri says he can’t imitate Verstappen and tell the aerodynamicists ‘how to design the car’. But there are some similarities between him and the world champion.
Both have displayed a ruthless mentality. While Piastri only has half as many penalty points as Verstappen (four vs eight), he’s willing to take risks.
For instance, Piastri made a ‘dirty’ move on Norris at the start of the Italian Grand Prix, according to James Hinchliffe. He snatched the lead from his teammate at the second chicane, with eventual winner Charles Leclerc sneaking through as the Briton took evasive action.
