LAST season’s main competitors McLaren’s Lando Norris, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and George Russell of Mercedes. EPA
Lando Norris is regarded as the favourite to take this year’s Formula One driver’s championship.
However, the presence of a strong teammate in Oscar Piastri, and absence of team orders, threatens to put the brakes on the British driver’s title charge.
Piastri insists he will race Norris hard but clean as the Australian also harbours world championship ambitions this year.
Defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull, by contrast, is clearly the No 1 driver at Red Bull.
The four-time world champion will be partnered by New Zealander Liam Lawson, who was promoted from the RB team after the departure of Sergio Perez.
The Dutchman is unlikely to be affected by team orders or instructions to give way to a teammate who is ahead in the championship race.
However, McLaren demonstrated the flip side of having two strong drivers in the team.
They stormed to the constructors’ championship last year with 666 points, 14 points clear of Red Bull.
Norris helped McLaren to their first constructors' crown since 1998 as he claimed the first four race victories of his F1 career last year but ultimately finished 63 points behind Verstappen.
Piastri was a vital cog in the constructors’ triumph, winning races in Hungary and Azerbaijan last season.
However, he finished 82 points behind Norris in fifth.
In the latter half of 2024 McLaren engineers implemented an instruction to both drivers, whereby essentially both were allowed to race each other but with no risk of collision.
McLaren became the first F1 team to reveal their 2025 car as Norris and Piastri drove the MCL39 at Silverstone on Thursday.
Looking ahead to the 2025 season, Piastri again explained the rules of engagement between the two drivers this year, also known as the ‘papaya rules’.
“We are going to be able to race each other,” Piastri said at McLaren’s car launch in Silverstone.
“We’ve shown time and time again that we can race each other hard, but cleanly, and as long as we’re not taking points off the team, then that’s how we’re going to go racing.”
Piastri was also equally clear about his intentions.
“I want to win the world championship this year,” said the 23-year-old Australian, who will start the season in front of his home fans in Melbourne on March 16.
“We are starting on a clean slate, and I do think that I can become world champion this year.
“I feel like 12 months ago I was going into the season still with some weaknesses that I wasn’t particularly confident with. I think through last season I addressed them.”
Norris, for his part, is also focused on overtaking his close friend and rival, Verstappen.
Their friendship seemed to have become strained due to flashpoints between the pair as Norris tried to overhaul the big advantage Verstappen had built early in the season.
A collision in Austria was followed by controversial incidents at races in the US and Mexico.
Norris said on Thursday: “I need to get my elbows out, and I need to show that I’m not going to willingly give him any positions.
“I also have to be a smart driver. You have to be a smart driver to go up against Max.
“He’s quick, he’s aggressive, he’s one of the best ever. The easy way is just going out and being quicker than him and staying ahead. That’s the obvious path.
“You just got to be smart. That’s the answer to it all. You have to be smart, and you have to position the car well and also think of the long game sometimes.”
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