McLaren come into the 2025 season as the favourites for the championship, but many will be wondering who will be the team’s preferred driver after the events of 2024.
The Woking-based outfit have arguably the strongest driver line-up on the grid in Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. McLaren seems to know that too, as CEO Zak Brown has stressed the team does not have a number one driver and gives the pair freedom to battle on track.
This became a problem in 2024 when the team suddenly found themselves in a position to compete for the championship. After Norris’ maiden win in Miami, the Brit became Max Verstappen’s closest rival for the title.
Both Norris and Piastri took advantage of the MCL38’s pace – they both only failed to score points once all season – as they beat Ferrari for McLaren’s first Constructors’ Championship in 26 years by 14 points. However, the team failed to stop Verstappen from claiming a fourth consecutive title.
| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
666 |
| 2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
652 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
589 |
| 4 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
468 |
| 5 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
94 |
| 6 |
Alpine F1 Team |
65 |
| 7 |
Haas F1 Team |
58 |
| 8 |
Visa Cash App RB Formula One Team |
46 |
| 9 |
Williams F1 Team |
17 |
| 10 |
Sauber F1 Team |
4 |
Norris made several costly errors that ultimately hampered his title charge. But another significant reason why McLaren missed out to Verstappen was their indecisiveness with strategy and team orders.
Norris and Piastri showed many times in 2024 that they were keen to fight each other, but McLaren intervened with ‘papaya rules’ midway through the season which saw the latter step back and help the former.
McLaren’s team orders could see Oscar Piastri beat Lando Norris in 2025
This approach ultimately failed to win Norris the championship, but it was a clear indication of how McLaren plan to tackle the ‘problem’ of having two drivers that are capable of fighting for the title.
And it seems the Woking-based outfit plan to have the same approach in 2025. Team principal Andrea Stella told F1.com: “First of all, I hope you are right [that they are fighting each other]. We do want to have that kind of problem.
“We worked very hard to have a problem of having a car in condition to win races and two drivers in condition to win races, and we know that this one in Formula 1 always comes with some complications.
“But these are complications that we have already faced this season to some extent. I think we have always approached that in a cohesive way. Both drivers were always fully aware that we need to find solutions that, first of all, put the interests of the team and then the interests of the drivers.
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“And so far, I think this has been a very positive process. It’s a process that we plan to carry over onto next season. But before we think about this problem, we need to think… We call it problem, potentially it’s more of an opportunity.”
Clearly, McLaren will give Norris and Piastri equal opportunity in the title fight this season and give them the freedom to battle on track – at least initially anyway.
Brown says McLaren ‘keep score’ of when Norris and Piastri help each other – the former handed the Sprint win in Qatar to the latter after he was forced to give up the lead to the Aussie in Hungary.
In 2025, the scores will be even, and Piastri is determined to make sure he is the one barring the benefit from McLaren’s team orders.
Oscar Piastri has already said he’s looking to avoid team orders in 2025
From what fans and pundits can gather from 2024, McLaren will prioritise the driver who is in a better position to win the championship than the other. Last year it was Norris, and Piastri is hoping this year is his year.
Piastri has already said he wants to avoid team orders in 2025. The way for the 22-year-old to do that is to make sure he is in a better position than Norris in the opening races.
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The Aussie has shown he has the qualities of a world champion, particularly with his aggression when overtaking. Piastri’s ‘dirty’ pass on Norris at Monza and his lunge into turn one for the lead at Baku prove his ability.
Brown has said McLaren will race Verstappen differently in 2025 after learning valuable lessons from last season, setting up an exciting battle at the front.
But the most interesting battle of 2025 could very well be between the McLaren drivers, and with their team orders, it could be Piastri who gets the edge over Norris this time.
