Johnny Herbert believes Lando Norris be the McLaren driver to cut and run for a new challenge, if the rivalry with Oscar Piastri becomes too much.

The former F1 Grand Prix winner and FIA steward believes Norris could possibly look to other pastures if Piastri comes out with the upper hand at McLaren.

Johnny Herbert: Impossible for McLaren to keep it equal

McLaren’s strong start to the F1 2025 season has seen both of its drivers take race victories, with Norris winning in Australia before Piastri stepped forward to win in China, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.

Piastri’s momentum is such that he’s moved into the championship lead for the first time in his career, as the Australian has opened up a 10-point advantage over Norris.

The British driver has made a few high-profile errors so far this season, handing an edge to Piastri that he has capitalised on.

Norris is the more experienced of the two and, last season, was given the support of McLaren once it became clear that he was the more consistent and slightly quicker of the two drivers. With Max Verstappen still very close in the championship, McLaren’s attempts to keep things fair and equal between their two drivers could end up costing both points as the year progresses.

Piastri stepping up his game, coinciding with Norris’ errors, could thus leave McLaren in an awkward position as the year goes on, particularly if the gap between Piastri and Norris widens further – would Norris be willing to play a supporting role for Piastri?

This potential scenario could leave Norris looking for a chance to start over with another team, reckons Johnny Herbert, who pointed to the similar situation that Daniel Ricciardo encountered at Red Bull when having stepped up into the role of team leader, found that position coming under threat following the arrival and subsequent strong performances of Max Verstappen.

In Verstappen’s third year at Red Bull, 2018, Ricciardo could see that he had lost his position of authority and, at year’s end, left to join Renault.

“There’s always a chance that Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri leaves McLaren because of the rivalry, but would they risk a good pairing?” Herbert told CoinCasino.com.

“Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull because of Max Verstappen’s emergence and gave it a shot at Renault. There will be a time at McLaren when they choose to favour one of the drivers, it’s impossible to keep it equal.

“There will be more trust placed in the one driver outperforming the other, hopefully, it’s a lesson learned from last season.”

Johnny Herbert: Could Lando Norris follow in Daniel Ricciardo’s path?

Both Norris and Piastri are on long-term contracts with McLaren but, having just signed another extension with the Woking-based squad, it’s Piastri who has the longer deal – the Australian is set to race in papaya until the end of 2029, with Norris set until the end of 2027.

“Piastri seems to be controlling his own destiny at the moment and has the edge,” Herbert said.

“Could Norris take the same path as Ricciardo? Possibly… but why would he do that? He’s fast enough to beat Oscar for this Championship, it will be hard work for them both.”

With Piastri thriving behind the wheel of the MCL39, and starting to deliver upon the potential his first two years in the sport hinted at, Saudi Arabia was a setback for Norris after seemingly getting to grips with the foibles of his car’s handling in Friday practice.

Showing strong pace, Norris crashed early in Q3, with team boss Andrea Stella opening up on why it’s Norris struggling moreso to gel with the car than Piastri.

“When Lando tries to squeeze a few more milliseconds out of the car, what we see – and I think we are starting to see these even better in the data in terms of identification of what is going on – the car doesn’t respond as he expects,” he said.

“So I think this is a behaviour that kind of surprises him. Today, it surprised him. The car understeered a bit in Turn 4 and he ended up on the outside kerb, and this outside kerb can be quite unforgiving.

“In a way, it’s almost episodical. What’s happening is an episode, and it’s an episode that I think starts from some of the work that we have done on the car – it made the car faster overall, but I think it took something away from Lando in terms of predictability of the car once he pushes the car at the limit.”

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