Lando Norris tipped to overhaul Piastri ‘coolness’ to claim F1 title

McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have both been tipped to win the F1 2025 world title based on different circumstances.

Former Renault F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has identified how he thinks the McLaren pair are likely to claim the title as the F1 season moves into its second half.

Oscar Piastri backed to beat Norris in McLaren title shootout

Piastri leads the championship fight by eight points after 12 races, having won five of them with team-mate Norris taking four.

The pair have a small but telling advantage over Max Verstappen in third, with the title fight increasingly becoming a two-horse race between the papaya pair.

Momentum is arguably with Norris, who heads into the Belgian Grand Prix as the victor of the two most recent events.

The Brit controlled the Austrian Grand Prix, seeing off a challenge from Piastri, and was in a position to capitalise when the Australian was pinged for a Safety Car infringement that cost him 10 seconds at his final pit stop in Britain.

Those events followed a Canadian GP performance in which Norris reeled in his team-mate before challenging for fourth – ultimately coming unstuck after nosing into Piastri’s rear wheel.

Piastri’s most recent victory came a race prior, at the Spanish Grand Prix, where he claimed pole position and fastest lap.

Earlier in the campaign, he completed a hat-trick of wins, taking the Bahrain, Saudi Arabian, and Miami grands prix.

The Aussie has been a picture of consistency in F1 2025, having finished every race in the points – and off the podium only twice.

However, in a head-to-head battle through to the end of the season, Palmer believes it will be Norris who emerge victorious.

“I think Lando might find a run in the second half of the season and just put three or four races together, which will decide the shape of the title. I think Norris will find his feet to get it,” he told the F1 Nation podcast when asked which McLaren driver he felt would be world champion.

More on the McLaren title battle

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👉 Oscar Piastri reverses ‘Norris team’ McLaren dynamic in title challenge verdict

The former Renault pilot added a caveat. Should the title battle remain a close-run affair, and it comes down to a winner-takes-all showdown, he’d instead back Piastri.

“If they get to the last-race shootout, and they are level on points, I would switch back to Oscar at that moment,” Palmer admitted.

“My theory is that Lando will do enough to get a lead before the final race, and then he’ll do it; hopefully, it’ll be a showdown, but he’ll have some points in hand at that point.

“But Oscar, otherwise, on a final race, is going to be tough to beat with that coolness.”

McLaren employs a ‘no team orders’ policy, allowing both Norris and Piastri to battle it out on track – within sensible guidelines.

The rationale is that, with a car that is capable of delivering either driver the title, it would be unfair to deny either one a shot at the title for the benefit of the other.

As it stands, it’s an increasingly moot point. While Piastri holds an eight-point lead over Norris, Verstappen in third now sits 69 points off the top of the standings.

McLaren meanwhile holds a commanding position in the Constructors’ Championship; its 460-point tally more than double what Ferrari has mustered in second (222).

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