Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were two of the greatest rivals in the history of the sport. Could a similar clash arise between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri? The Australian addressed this question by analyzing the current situation at the Woking team.
This year hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Andrea Stella. The McLaren team principal has often had to manage the consequences of the lack of a clear hierarchy. He considers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to be on the same level and believes it wouldn’t be fair to limit one by making them the other’s support.
This has been the main cause of friction at McLaren this year, but Oscar Piastri clarified that the situation never escalated thanks to open communication. “When we’ve gotten close on track or when one of us disagreed with a decision or approach, we’ve always talked it through, and in hindsight, it made perfect sense.”
A Comparison Between Eras
Oscar began by comparing McLaren’s current situation to the late 1980s when Senna and Prost were teammates at Woking. “F1 back then was a very different era, and the way we operate as a team and as drivers is very different for both characters. Obviously, I never met Ayrton, and I didn’t meet Alain when he was racing, but I think Lando and I have shown through our actions that we are a very collaborative team.”
The on-track battle doesn’t worry Oscar Piastri. He stated that moments of tension are inevitable, especially if they aim to achieve results comparable to those of Senna and Prost, but he believes the outcomes of their battles will be different.
“It’s natural that when both are fighting to win, there will be moments of tension; it’s inevitable. What changes is how you handle them, even though it hasn’t happened often so far. If we won world championships like Senna and Prost, that would be a positive thing, but I don’t imagine we would have the same kind of incidents.” – the McLaren driver concluded.
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