McLaren boss shares honest opinion on managing the Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri potential F1 title rivalry

McLaren boss Andrea Stella feels the Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri potential F1 title rivalry is something that the team would welcome even though it comes with its challenges. The team is one of the few that has backed having two No. 1 drivers despite having a car that could potentially fight for the title.

In F1, there are two approaches that teams could take when building their driver lineups. The first is where the team picks two top drivers and commits to giving both of them equal opportunity for everything. In this manner, the team maximizes the potential of both cars, but if a title is at stake, it could lead to tension between the two drivers.

The second approach is what Red Bull has, where the team has one lead driver and the second driver would play the supporting role. In this case, driver harmony continues to be there, and the drivers championship is prioritized. McLaren has taken the approach of having two capable drivers in the team with both being given equal opportunity to perform.

This method did come under the microscope a little when Lando Norris was in contention for the title last season and Oscar Piastri was too far behind. While McLaren did take a call on giving Norris the preferential treatment in 2024, it all starts with a clean slate in 2025.

The question of a potential title rivalry between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri was put to Andrea Stella, who said that this was something that would be approached in a cohesive manner. As quoted by F1.com, he said:

“First of all, I hope you are right [that they are fighting each other]. We do want to have that kind of problem. We worked very hard to have a problem of having a car in condition to win races and two drivers in condition to win races, and we know that this one in Formula 1 always comes with some complications. But these are complications that we have already faced this season to some extent."

He added:

"I think we have always approached that in a cohesive way. Both drivers were always fully aware that we need to find solutions that, first of all, put the interests of the team and then the interests of the drivers. And so far, I think this has been a very positive process. It's a process that we plan to carry over onto next season. But before we think about this problem, we need to think… We call it problem, potentially it's more of an opportunity.”

McLaren aims to provide Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri the best possible car

Talking about the season ahead, Andrea Stella said that the key aim for the team is to provide both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri the best possible car with which they could fight for the title. Admitting that if McLaren had been on point from the start of the season, the situation could have been different, Norris said:

“Our focus is to make sure that, from a technical point of view, we give Lando and Oscar a car that is in condition to fight for the championship. Because had we done this at the start of this season, without having some underperformance in the early races of the season, then we would have been in condition to fight for the drivers' championship for longer.”

Lando Norris fell short of putting together a strong effort in a title fight against Max Verstappen in 2024 but would be hoping to do a better job next season.