McLaren regard Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as equals going into the F1 2025 title fight, one which Piastri has declared his intention to win.

After a successful Miami GP upgrade package for the MCL38 got McLaren’s F1 2024 truly up and running, the team in papaya grew only stronger from there into a serious title threat, as the dominant ways of Max Verstappen and Red Bull dissipated, with Lando Norris also emerging as a Drivers’ Championship challenger versus Verstappen.

McLaren drivers ‘going to be racing each other from the start’

However, balancing a Norris title charge with their shot at the Constructors’ Championship, McLaren introduced their ‘papaya rules’ of engagement between Norris and Piastri, looking to avoid on-track dramas, though the system had its critics, as the calls for McLaren to fully back Norris in his title quest strengthened.

Ultimately, Verstappen held firm to win his fourth successive World Championship, wrapping up title number four with two rounds to spare in Las Vegas, though McLaren did secure the Constructors’ crown.

McLaren will look to be right up there from the start in F1 2025, and as the points return to zero, Piastri expects equal opportunities versus Norris as he bids to become World Champion.

Speaking at the launch of McLaren’s F1 2025 challenger – the MCL39 – at Silverstone, Piastri declared: “We are going to be racing each other from the start. We are all starting from zero.

“I want to win the World Championship this year and hopefully we have a car capable of doing that from the start.

“We will be able to race each other and we have shown we can race each other hard but cleanly. As long as we are not taking points off the team, that’s fine.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella is on board with that idea of Norris and Piastri both being up to the task.

That is, as long as McLaren deliver from their side with the MCL39.

“We have two drivers in a position to succeed,” Stella said. “If anything the pressure is on the team to ensure we have a car that can deliver podiums from the start.”

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All 10 teams face a unique challenge in F1 2025, as while a full, 24-round season awaits, focus must also be placed on the huge regulatory reset to come from F1 2026, when the new cars and engines come into force.

Nonetheless, Piastri confirmed that McLaren have continued to innovate under the current regulations as the impressive MCL38 makes way for the MCL39.

“We’re obviously going into the same regs this year, but we’ve not stood still,” he told Sky Sports.

“There are some things that are different, some new innovations on this car, and I think that’s what you need to do to try and stay at the top.

“We’ve seen in the past that, when it’s not been us winning, other teams have been constantly putting new things on their car and not standing still as well.

“Through last season we, of course, came out on top in the Constructors’ Championship, but it was so tight through the whole season, so you really can’t afford to stand still, because there’s a lot of teams waiting to try and overtake us.”

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