Lando Norris has insisted that his and Oscar Piastri’s equal desire to be the “top dog” at McLaren will not change how the team navigates the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Norris and Piastri combined last season to bring an end to McLaren’s protracted title drought as the side pipped long-time rival Ferrari to the Constructors’ Championship.
But neither driver was able to capitalise on McLaren’s MCL38 becoming renowned as the benchmark car to halt Max Verstappen, who was crowned with two rounds to spare.
Norris had emerged as the closest rival to the Dutchman, prompting McLaren to intervene with eight rounds remaining to prioritise his prospects over his team-mate.
But while he trailed 82 points behind Norris, Piastri is heading into the upcoming season, his third in the sport, more convinced that he has the assets to mount a title challenge.
Piastri’s admission has come as no surprise to Norris, who is adamant that his team-mate’s vow won’t have an impact on how McLaren goes racing once the season begins.
Asked whether McLaren having two well-matched drivers could be a hindrance when Verstappen is poised to be Red Bull’s sole leading hopeful, Norris told media including Motorsport Week: “It’s a very difficult one to just kind of give an answer that will cover the season. There isn’t an answer that will just cover all of it.
“I think how we dealt with things last year was very good. But like I just said, it’s a different year. How we start the year, it just changes everything.
“I know Oscar’s hungry for a championship, and every driver is. And for sure he’s capable of winning a championship.
“But at the same time, kind of with me taking one race at a time, and that’s our mentality as a team, everyone knows that we want to beat each other, and you want to be the top dog in the team, and that’s normal, that’s the expectation.
“But I don’t think it changes anything. I hope it doesn’t in some ways, I know probably in some ways it will, because that’s competitiveness. Every driver wants to go out and prove their point.”
McLaren has collective responsibility to manage rivalry
Norris admitted that he was not “proud” to have overshadowed Piastri’s maiden F1 win in Hungary last season when he showed an initial reluctance to oblige with a team order.
The Briton, though, has claimed that it is up to both drivers and McLaren to ensure that a repeat situation is avoided should more moments like that arise during this season.
“But there’s also responsibility on myself, on Oscar, Andrea, the teams around both of us as drivers, to handle these situations correctly, to I guess not have a Budapest few moments and those kind of things,” he continued.
“In some cases that will mean some slightly more rules, and tightening up on some things. In some cases because we might be closer together more often, we might be racing more often.”
McLaren drivers to start on equal terms
Norris revealed that the McLaren pairing will start the campaign on equal terms, but he indicated that could be revised should one driver obtain the upper hand over the other.
“There isn’t just a ‘this is what’s going to happen, that’s how it’s going to go’,” he explained.
“That’s the incorrect way of doing things, but we’ve definitely set a good standard last year of how we can work together as a team, how, you know, up until Baku, there was no priority over one or the other, it was pretty much you’re fighting each other, you’re racing against each other, it’s up to you kind of thing, you just know that you have to leave one more metre when there’s a papaya car there.
“Yeah, honestly, not a lot changes, and if it does, which maybe it will, maybe it won’t, that will just happen throughout the season, weekend by weekend.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris: McLaren must avoid Max Verstappen ‘sacrifice’ tactics in F1 2025
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