Aug.4 (GMM) McLaren’s intra-team struggle is now a two-way battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for the 2025 title – however tensions are starting to rise.
Championship chief Piastri noticed his lead shrink to only 9 factors over Norris after Hungary, having led by 22 after Canada. The Australian completed behind Norris on Sunday regardless of operating forward earlier within the race, with Norris executing a daring one-stop technique to win.
There was controversy late within the race when Piastri almost collided with Norris in an aggressive overtaking try – triggering a warning from McLaren race engineers.
“I nonetheless must look again to see precisely what occurred,” group principal Andrea Stella mentioned afterwards. “However our reminder on the radio was to each drivers.
“The primary rule is that they’ll’t go too aggressively subsequent to one another on the within, and the second is that they’ll’t transfer underneath braking.
“It’s pure that they need to carry out the perfect in themselves – however their battles should all happen in response to our guidelines.”
Stella additionally denied any favouritism towards Norris.
“With the late second cease, we ensured that Oscar nonetheless had a good probability of beating Lando. He was given the biggest doable tyre delta and sufficient laps to make up the deficit,” mentioned the Italian.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown echoed the group’s stance: “Each have adopted the Papaya guidelines.”
Nonetheless, Ralf Schumacher believes Piastri overstepped.
“That was too shut,” mentioned the German, to Sky Deutschland. “His radio messages present that Oscar is pushed by ambition, and that may typically backfire. I’m shocked at how relaxed the group is about this and the way they’re letting each of them drive freely.”
When requested about his shrinking lead, Piastri performed it down.
“I imply, the largest lead of the yr has been 23, and it’s not moved inside 10 factors for the final ten races virtually,” he mentioned. “So, I’m probably not that fussed with that. Clearly, it could have been good to have the additional factors, however I don’t suppose it’s essentially a pattern.”
