Oscar Piastri joked he wants this season to be a repeat of 2007 as two McLaren drivers battle for the F1 championship.

That season saw a rookie Lewis Hamilton come up against the two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso and a season of back and forth ended with neither of them winning the title.

Oscar Piastri jokes he wants ‘2007’ title fight with Lando Norris

2007 at times looked like it was going to rip McLaren apart with both drivers deploying tricks in order to get the advantage and while Piastri and Lando Norris have yet to resort to the same measures, the competition could get uglier as the season goes on.

Asked if the rivalry could turn into another tempestuous one – Hamilton vs Nico Rosberg – Piastri joked it was 2007 they were trying to replicate.

“We said that we’re trying to repeat 2007,” the championship leader said. “We clearly know that we have our strengths. It’s always been close between us. It’s going to be a good battle. There will be weekends where Lando is stronger, and weekends where I am stronger.

“We’re very aware of the fact that we want this success for as long as we’re at McLaren, which is a very long time for both of us. We’re aware there’s going to be a fight. We both want to become world champion, obviously. But we don’t just want one opportunity at this success. We want it for the next however many years, and that’s an important and an easy thing to keep in mind for us and the whole team.”

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Piastri was also asked if it was easier to face off against your team-mate rather than a rival driver and he said in some ways it was and it some ways it wasn’t.

“We know pretty much exactly how one another drives,” he said. “We know our strong points, maybe some of our weaker points. So from that side you have more information, but it goes both ways. We both know we’ve got the same car, so that removes one factor.

“But there are other complications with having the same car. You can have the same strengths and weaknesses on track. With how difficult it is to follow cars, nine times out of 10, whoever’s in front at the start is probably going to be in front at the end. So it’s difficult like that. Then there’s the pit strategies and whatever that become a factor when you’re in the same team. There are positives and negatives.”

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