McLaren insiders have identified crucial Oscar Piastri change this year that will worry Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri has shown over the first four race weekends of the 2025 Formula 1 season that he’s not going to settle for second-best at McLaren this year.

McLaren currently have a significant advantage in the constructors’ championship, with both of their drivers already achieving race wins this season.

Lando Norris starred at the Australian Grand Prix, while his teammate, Oscar Piastri, made one crucial error that saw him spin off at the worst possible moment.

Piastri proved his credentials at the following race in China, taking the first pole position of his career and leading from start to finish, with his teammate making a couple of small errors.

McLaren had to tell Piastri to stay behind Norris in Australia and Japan, and the Brit finished ahead of his teammate in both races as he obeyed his team’s instructions.

However, Piastri took that scenario out of the equation at the Bahrain Grand Prix by dominating his teammate across the weekend.

Jacques Villeneuve questioned if Norris is beginning to struggle with the pressure of being the favourite for the championship, while Piastri doesn’t appear to be bothered by the expectation that’s now being put on him.

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McLaren insiders think Oscar Piastri is now Lando Norris’ ‘biggest threat’

Journalist Chris Medland was speaking on the Pit Pass Podcast during the Bahrain Grand Prix race weekend.

Talking about the exciting Australian, Medland said: “There just seemed to be an air of confidence around Oscar. Now, FP3 was still taken with a pinch of salt because it was very hot again, there were times when it got close to 40 degrees Celsius during the heat of the day, but it started to drop much more considerably heading into qualifying.

“So, you knew the picture could change a little bit. But at that point, I think McLaren and everyone was expecting McLaren to be comfortably clear of the rest of the field.

“And I was speaking to someone within the McLaren team after FP3 who was saying, ‘Oscar’s really on it, like Oscar’s really stepped up this year. You can see it in qualifying that he’s just got that edge over one lap now.

“‘He’s able to produce what he needs to get pole positions, to take the fight to Lando,’ and they were saying, I think the dynamic is shifting a little bit here.

“Where Lando previously has just had to be thinking and focusing on Max, he’s been his first thought really, and now he’s going to have to change that and make Oscar his first thought, and his biggest threat is going to come from within the team.”

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Bahrain pay tribute to Oscar Piastri’s win as McLaren finally taste victory at Sakhir

The first Formula 1 race that took place in Bahrain was in 2004 when Michael Schumacher won for Ferrari.

Pedro De La Rosa set the lap record in Bahrain the following year for McLaren, but Zak Brown’s team had never previously won at the circuit before Piastri’s victory.

McLaren have received significant investment from Bahrain, and Andrea Stella referred to the race as their ‘second home’ Grand Prix alongside Silverstone.

Bahrain made a remarkable change to the country’s phone network to pay tribute to Piastri’s win.

The country was delighted that McLaren finally won the constructors’ championship last year, and treated the team to some amazing celebrations after last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

It’ll be amazing to see what they do if Piastri or Norris become the first McLaren driver to win the drivers’ title since Lewis Hamilton.