Oscar Piastri’s emphatic answer to number 2 role question

McLaren had a “very brief discussion” about Oscar Piastri supporting Lando Norris’ title quest, but the simple answer is “no”.

Two race weekends remain in the F1 2025 championship, where a total of 58 points are still in play as Qatar is a Sprint weekend. Both McLaren teammates could still win the title.

Oscar Piastri to support Lando Norris?

Although Lando Norris is in the pound seat with his 24-point lead, Piastri sits second where he is tied with Max Verstappen on points but ahead on the log by virtue of grand prix victories.

The numbers, though, don’t tell the full story.

Since Formula 1 returned from the summer break, Verstappen has outscored the McLaren drivers – and convincingly.

The Red Bull driver has brought in 179 points in eight race weekends, finishing every grand prix on the podium with four of those champagne celebrations the result of race wins.

Norris has scored 115 points, with two wins and a further three podiums, while Piastri has just 82. The Australian secured just one podium through his victory at the Dutch Grand Prix and has since gone seven races without a top-three result.

Not only is McLaren’s 1-2 in the Drivers’ Championship in jeopardy, so too is the World title.

More on the F1 2025 title race from PlanetF1.com

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👉 Could McLaren’s Las Vegas DSQ seal Oscar Piastri’s role as No.2?

So much so, McLaren, who has repeatedly stated that it would rather lose the title than issue team orders while both drivers were still in the running, had the conversation with Piastri.

“We’ve had a very brief discussion, and the answer is no,” Piastri told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Qatar when asked if he’d support Norris.

“I’m still equal on points with Max and have a decent shot at still winning it if things go my way.”

The Australian does, however, concede that it is not in his hands.

Asked by PlanetF1.com editor Mat Coch about the conversations within his own camp, the driver replied: “I think there’s still a chance, and it’s played out that way a couple of times before, so I know it’s not impossible.

“Obviously I also know it’s a bit of an outside shot, I can’t just rely on… even I have a perfect final two weekends, I can’t just rely on that, I need other things to go my way.

“And I’m very aware of that.

“So for me, I’m just going to try to have the best weekends I can, which I try to do every weekend, and see what happens.”

But in a stereotypical case of a double-edged sword, Piastri could be given a helping hand in the final two races by rival teams. But he could also be undone by them – mainly Red Bull’s Verstappen.

While the 24-year-old could do with rivals taking points off Norris, even if it means he too loses a point or three, if that rival is Max Verstappen, then it could still cost him dearly.

“I’m not sure to be honest, I’ve not really thought about it,” he said of rivals potentially disrupting the fight. “I think every weekend there’s a challenger that’s there.

“Obviously Max in the second half of the season has been there more often than not, but we’ve seen Mercedes be quick at certain points, we’ve seen Ferrari get in the mix as well, maybe not quite as much as Max and Mercedes, but there’s always been people around.

“So, I think regardless of what the championship picture looks like for others, everyone is going out there to try and fight for wins and podiums. So, you know, I’m not expecting anyone to make life easy.”

However, the championship plays out, the cool-headed Aussie is still betting on himself to get it right in the final two races by putting an end to his win-less streak.

“Yeah, confident, I would say,” he said. “I think it’s a circuit that I enjoyed, circuit I’ve done well in the past.

“I think Vegas was looking reasonable from a pace point of view, just qualifying at the end of Q3 didn’t go how I wanted. And then the race, obviously the race was what it was, and a few mistakes in there.

“But I think the pace, when I had clean air to be able to use my pace, was pretty good. So I think we’ve already found a lot of improvements in those kind of conditions.

“But obviously here is a much different circuit, much higher speed, very gripping tarmac, pretty consistent, maybe some wind around, but pretty consistent temperatures at least.”

Additional reporting by Mat Coch

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