Lando Norris Anticipates “Trickier and Tougher Times” Ahead With Teammate Oscar Piastri

Given what happened at multiple races last season, it was expected that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris might have a full-blown title battle in 2025 if McLaren had the best car on the field. The qualifying gap between the two has been negligible of late, and having traded wins in the first two rounds of 2025, Piastri and Norris seem set to lock horns for their maiden title.

Even though the Australian driver had a gut-wrenching loss at the season opener in Melbourne—which was his home race—he bounced back strongly to completely outclass Norris at the Chinese GP. While Norris and Piastri have not battled each other for wins so far—with one reigning supreme in each race—there will be races later in the season where they have a tussle or even collide.

In such a scenario, McLaren will have to step in as the mediator and even deploy team orders, or as they infamously coined the term, ‘Papaya Rules’ for the same. Still, given that these rules of engagement didn’t have any tangible impact last year, the on-track tensions between Piastri and Norris will continue to grow if they remain close in the standings.

Currently, the Melbourne-born driver is only 10 points behind Norris in fourth place. The Briton knows Piastri‘s ability and how he can easily beat him to Grand Prix wins, just like in China. So Norris has put forth a diplomatic stance to tackle the tricky battles he may have with his McLaren teammate in 2025.

“It’s our first time that we are really going head to head, and I’m sure there is going to be a lot more instances where we’re battling or racing against each other,” he said. The #4 driver was being coy about asserting himself as the team’s lead driver, with Piastri also in the hunt for the title.

“It’s round three now, we’ve only done two races. Many things can happen, and I’m sure there are going to be plenty of trickier or tougher times. But like I said last week, we acknowledge this,” Norris added. While one may wonder how the Briton is so considerate of Piastri’s title claim, there is good reason for the same.

Right before the season-opening weekend in Australia, McLaren signed a long-term contract extension with Piastri, which not only brings him level on financial terms with Norris, but keeps him at the Woking team till the end of 2028 at least. This underscores the fact that McLaren are not going to pick a number-one driver between Norris and Piastri.

Piastri gunning to usurp Norris as McLaren’s leader

Apart from the contract, Piastri’s performance level has also improved as he has begun his third F1 season with some solid results. His flawless Chinese GP weekend, which consisted of a P2 finish in the sprint race and the Grand Prix victory from pole position, shows that he is ready from the get-go to challenge for the championship.

“We’re starting with a clean slate. I really think I can be world champion this year,” the 23-year-old said in an interview during the pre-season. Having worked on his weaknesses in qualifying and tire management from last season, Piastri seems to be in a great mindset so far.

The Aussie even commented about battling Norris, acknowledging McLaren’s dilemma of team orders and the whole Papaya Rules saga. “We know we are very capable of racing each other responsibly and giving each other the respect we deserve.”

If anyone thinks that Piastri is going to accept being a wingman to Norris as he fights for the championship, the race starts of the 2024 Hungarian and Italian GPs serve as the perfect evidence of his relentlessness on track. On both occasions, Piastri got the better start and overtook Norris.

While Piastri won the Hungarian GP, he could not manage to win the Italian GP after Ferrari pulled off a masterstroke one-stop strategy with Charles Leclerc. Yet, McLaren have enough evidence that Piastri is more than capable of matching Norris, and so they are not ready to completely demote him as a number two this season.