Lando Norris reveals nerves in Oscar Piastri title fight: “We’re ready”

McLaren driver Lando Norris has admitted that there is nervous excitement building between him and his team-mate Oscar Piastri following a dominant 1-2 finish at the Chinese Grand Prix. 

The Australian driver finished first after a confident race, while Norris finished second, nursing a broken car past the chequered flag. Despite this slight hiccup for the latter driver, both drivers are going into 2025 with confidence that they could, for the most part, be fighting each other for the drivers’ championship. 

Following his Shanghai campaign, Norris spoke on what’s to come between the two.

“We were free to race,” he confirmed. “We’re both excited – probably nervous and excited at the same time – as I’m sure the team will be. But we’re ready.”

With Norris banking generous points in Australia while Piastri spun off the wet track finishing ninth, the former is currently leading the standings. But he’s aware that this gap of 10 points could well shrink.

“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. And that’s inevitable.”

Papaya Rules became the buzz phrase of the 2024 season as McLaren began to define their rules of engagement. This led to a few difficult races for the duo as they struggled to interpret their hierarchy. But for the beginning of 2025, these racing rules were “refreshed.”

“There are clearly rules we cannot cross. Both cars will always have to stay in the race and that kind of thing,” Norris said. “We are both competitors. That’s clear. We both want to fight for a win and fight for victories, that’s clear. But there’s just boundaries around the car.”

McLaren have established themselves as the team to beat this season. Norris is at the top of the standings with 44 points, followed by Max Verstappen in second with 36 points and George Russell with 35. As a constructor, McLaren leads Mercedes by 21 points with 78 in total. 

Following an impressive performance on the resurfaced Shanghai International Circuit, Piastri celebrated his first win of the year. 

“It’s been an incredible weekend, and the car has been mega the whole time. The tyres behaved very differently to the earlier sessions in China but the race we’ve managed to pull-off this afternoon has been excellent.

“The support from the grandstands and all the papaya fans has been terrific and we can be proud of the 1-2 result we’ve secured through hard work. I’m looking forward to some time back at the factory in preparation for the upcoming triple-header.”