2025: the McLaren year
The 2025 season has seen two distinct phases within McLaren, with one period favouring Oscar Piastri and another more positive for his teammate Lando Norris, who, through a strong run of results, ultimately secured the world championship title.
In the first half of the campaign, the Australian delivered consistent and reassuring performances that allowed him to hold the lead in the drivers’ standings. However, as the season progressed, particularly from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix onwards, Piastri began to make mistakes or was unable to replicate his earlier form.
This drop in performance even saw him lose second place in the championship standings to Max Verstappen.
The incidents
Regardless of the final outcome, the battle between the two McLaren drivers created a true intra-team rivalry for the championship, further intensified by several key episodes.
These included the contact between the two at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team-imposed conduct guidelines known as the “Papaya Rules”, and the team orders given to Piastri during the Italian Grand Prix.
That particular decision led some observers to speculate about possible favoritism towards Norris within the McLaren structure.
The rivalry
Asked about the internal rivalry, Piastri addressed the topic in an interview with Quad Lock, also responding to the many rumours surrounding the relationship between the two teammates.
“The media plays a huge role in Formula 1, whether you like it or not,” he explained. “There have definitely been tough questions, difficult interviews, and complicated moments. For me, it’s quite simple to separate the story the media is trying to sell from what is actually happening.”
“There have been some difficult moments behind closed doors, but it hasn’t been anywhere near as catastrophic or like a kind of Third World War as some media like to describe it.”
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