With Lando Norris bagging two race wins and Oscar Piastri one so far in the season, McLaren has emerged as the biggest contender to Red Bull for the constructors’ championship. While the Woking-based outfit is eating into the reigning champions’ lead, Norris is doing the same to Max Verstappen. Amid this raging battle has come an astute observation from Nico Rosberg.
Speaking during Sky Sports F1’s broadcast of the FP1 session in Monza, the 2016 F1 champion said, “I’m so impressed with the way they developed that car. The car is very, very similar to the Red Bull actually, I mean it’s a proper copy conceptually – the way that the rear geometry is, but they’re almost doing a better job than Red Bull themselves.”
Red Bull started the 2024 season right where it finished 2023 — with four wins out of the first five races. However, McLaren‘s steady and well-thought-out development saw the papaya team catch up.
Rosberg’s claims over their concept being a “copy” of Red Bull’s could certainly be true. That is because of the influence of their chief designer Rob Marshall, who previously worked with Red Bull.
Dutch Grand Prix Qualifying lap comparison between:
Lando Norris
Max Verstappen #F1 #DutchGP pic.twitter.com/72jV1vn05f— FORMULA ADDICT (@Formuladdict) August 25, 2024
Rosberg also stressed on McLaren’s progress from where they were last year. He specifically compared the team’s performance in Miami in 2023 with their dominant triumph in Zandvoort recently. Both drivers failed to score points while finishing in the bottom five at the 2023 Miami GP. At the 2024 Dutch GP, Norris defeated Verstappen to the chequered flag by over 22 seconds. Piastri, meanwhile, finished fourth.
While the Aussie failed to recover from the fumble he made at the race start, he has shown sparks of brilliance on other circuits. Needless to mention, McLaren’s biggest asset is its ultra-competitive driver lineup. However, that could turn into a problem very quickly.
Is competition between Norris and Piastri a dormant volcano waiting to explode?
ESPN F1 journalist Nate Saunders recently talked about the need for McLaren to clearly define the number one and number two driver between Norris and Piastri. He believes it is the right time to have the tough conversation with Piastri as Norris has a realistic chance at the drivers’ championship.
McLaren, however, look to be in no mood to do that just yet, despite Norris sacrificing the race lead in Hungary for Piastri. The Aussie himself isn’t ready to relegate himself to playing second fiddle to his teammate. He maintains he won’t concede until he is himself mathematically out of the title contention.
With a gap of 70 points to Verstappen, Norris’ dream to win the championship might be a bit distant. However, he would look to get on top of the affairs right from the start in 2025. Piastri would do the same. Therefore, McLaren might avoid a fallout between its drivers in 2024 but cannot guarantee it next year.
