The 2025 season has kicked off with the expected script of McLaren reigning supreme over the rest of the grid. Winning the open two Grands Prix of the season, followed by another solid double podium in Japan last weekend, the Woking outfit seems to be on cloud nine.
Their comfort in the Constructors’ championship standings also reflects the same, with second-placed Mercedes already 36 points behind, let alone their predicted title rivals Red Bull and Ferrari lagging in third and fourth. Still, McLaren have a problem at hand: managing their drivers who are both in the fight for the drivers’ title.
Naturally, with McLaren having the fastest car on the current grid, both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri want to win their maiden world championship this season. Both have already made their statements about their potential title challenges in 2025.
Many experts had predicted that this was Norris’ year to win the championship as he is currently in his seventh season with McLaren, and he did have a shot at the 2024 title. However, Sky Sports’ Naomi Schiff believes that Piastri must not be counted out yet after she watched the way the Australian performed in the FP2 session of the Bahrain GP.
She began by explaining how it does not come as a surprise that McLaren topped FP2. Piastri registered the quickest time of the session, and he was 0.154 seconds faster than Norris, with Mercedes’ George Russell being a further four-tenths away in third.
Speaking of what she made about the fact that Piastri outpaced Norris, Schiff said, “It really does feel like Oscar has taken a step up this season. Lando is looking like he has a tough contender up against him”.
FP2 long runs from Bahrain: Just call it Formula McLaren right now.
Piastri – 38.081 (H)
Norris – 38.268 (S)
Russell – 38.528 (S)
Leclerc – 38.621 (M)
Antonelli – 38.717 (S)
Hamilton – 38.816 (S)
Verstappen – 38.843 (S)
Tsunoda – 39.757 (M)Lando had traffic on some laps too. pic.twitter.com/BRLUfnyQA8
— Daniel Valente ️ (@F1GuyDan) April 11, 2025
Having won a Grand Prix each so far, Norris and Piastri are nip and tuck with each other’s pace on all fronts. However, it is the Australian’s year-on-year improvement that should worry his teammate a lot. After securing two Grand Prix victories last season, Piastri seems to have stepped up his qualifying pace as well and is challenging Norris at every step instead of the occasional battles he had in 2024.
Last season, the lack of consistency in his qualifying and race pace hampered Piastri’s chances of scoring points more often and made Norris the lead championship contender for McLaren. Fortunately, that status quo seems to be changing as the #81 driver is keeping the Briton’s points tally in check right from the get-go this season.
With only 13 points separating the McLaren do, Piastri seems a legitimate championship contender just like Norris. In fact, had he not suffered with his off-track excursion at the Australian GP, the Melbourne-born driver might’ve even been leading the championship by now ahead of Norris.
Nevertheless, Piastri will have to be wary of Max Verstappen’s threat, as he witnessed in Japan how the Dutchman cannot be ruled out of win contention, and in turn, the title battle in any scenario. The Aussie has got what it takes to beat Norris, given he has started to look quicker, but beating Verstappen would be his final challenge before he can think about securing his maiden world title this season.
