Lando Norris believes McLaren has shown the importance attached to having drivers who push each other in Formula 1 amid Red Bull’s decision to axe Liam Lawson.
McLaren has begun the new campaign with successive victories, as Oscar Piastri’s win in China succeeded Norris prevailing at the season-opening round in Australia.
The Woking-based squad’s initial dominance has coincided with Red Bull, the team that it dethroned to take the title last season, sustaining its worst start since 2020.
Despite Max Verstappen sandwiching Norris and Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship, Red Bull languishes 42 points behind McLaren amid Lawson’s scoreless return.
Lawson’s struggles have prompted Red Bull to commit to a driver swap two races into 2025 as Yuki Tsunoda has been promoted to replace the Kiwi in the senior side.
With Tsunoda becoming Verstappen’s fifth team-mate since 2019, Lawson hasn’t been alone in buckling under the pressure that comes with the second Red Bull seat.
That is not a problem that McLaren has had to contend with since Piastri’s arrival, though, an advantage which Norris is certain gives the team the edge over its rivals.
“Apart from Ferrari, I don’t think there’s another team that has two drivers that push each other anywhere near as much,” he said. “And for us, that’s a huge advantage.
“Even if you have the same car for everyone, if you have a team with two drivers who can push each other, they’re always going to beat everyone else that’s just on their own.
“We have a great car, we have a great team, but we also have two drivers that are pushing each other more than any other team has.
“And that will always triumph – even [over] the best driver on the grid.”
Norris hails collaborative McLaren partnership
Norris regards the collaborative partnership between him and Piastri to be among McLaren’s “biggest strengths” as the squad targets a championship double in 2025.
The Briton emphasised this point as he detailed how observing his team-mate was integral to him overcoming his troubles with the car in China to cap a McLaren 1-2.
“We have different ways we drive. He wants some things on the car, I want different things,” Norris acknowledged.
“But normally our ways align and we always want the same thing in the end.
“Oscar’s ability to adapt to a track like this was impressive, and something I clearly struggled a lot more to do.
“I hate understeer. The one thing I almost hate as much as brakes not working is probably understeer, and that’s what we had this weekend.
“As soon as we put the Hard [tyres] on, for instance, my pace was a lot stronger because I had some front, finally.
“But I’ve learned a lot this weekend from Oscar and his ability to adapt to these different situations.
“It’s definitely something we’ll maximise because it’s helping us beat every other team at the minute.”
READ MORE – The Max Verstappen-esque breakthrough that leaves Lando Norris as the McLaren to beat in 2025
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