Lando Norris Compares Himself and Oscar Piastri to Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on Teammate Rivalry

With McLaren looking like title favorites this season, it wouldn’t be uncommon for them to establish a clear pecking order between their drivers to avoid friction. However, the Woking-based team has taken the opposite approach by keeping both their drivers on an equal footing.

Generally, in the F1 paddock, seniority plays a key role in terms of who dictates the terms. Lando Norris, who has been with the team since 2019, is the clear veteran.

Yet, he isn’t miffed that his teammate Oscar Piastri has been given the same importance in the team as him. In fact, he has defended the team for not labeling a No.1 driver.

Speaking about his dynamic with the #81 driver, Norris lauded the three-time Grand Prix winner for his exceptional pace. The #4 driver believes that Piastri is an asset for the team and the quality of their driver line-up is only rivaled by Ferrari.

“Apart from Ferrari, I think there is no team in which the two drivers push each other so much, and this is a huge advantage,” explained Norris as quoted by Formula Passion. Norris went on to highlight how when he has faltered, Piastri has been there to pick up the scraps for the team.

“We have a big car and a great team, but even the two drivers push each other harder than elsewhere. This way the best always wins,” he added. From McLaren’s perspective, this is the ideal situation where the team is guaranteed the maximum points total coming out of a race weekend.

Piastri is aware of himself and the fact that there is a line not to cross when it comes to his relations with the Brit.

“For myself, I’m very confident in what I can do… We’re starting from a clean slate, and ultimately whoever is going to be faster out on track is going to be who wins, or whoever finishes higher if it’s not winning,” Piastri said in a press conference ahead of the Australian Grand Prix a few weeks ago.

“…We’ve discussed a lot of it from last season and how we managed the backend of last year… We’re both going to be trying our best to win,” the Australian star added.

Their pace and consistency were indeed the key last season in the Woking-based team’s first Constructors’ title triumph since 1998. However, if the two battle it out for the Drivers’ Championship this season, their pushing each other to the limit could also prove to be a problem for McLaren.

McLaren isn’t a stranger to seeing their drivers have a very fierce intra-team rivalry. Back in the 1980s, McLaren had a tense rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, and then in 2008, they had a similar rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso — all drivers who won multiple world championships.

Norris and Piastri are expected to carry forward that tradition thanks to McLaren encouraging competition within the team. “I think we’re ready. As much as people like to talk about those laps in Melbourne where we were told to keep the position, we were free to fight to the end,” he explained while reiterating that the Papaya Rules still exist.

McLaren’s leadership team of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella have done well to ensure that Norris and Piastri are working together in tandem and yet trying their best to fulfill their individual aspirations, which would help them in both the Drivers and the Constructors championships respectively.