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

Oscar Piastri’s eight-point margin over Lando Norris at the top of the drivers’ championship masks an even greater accomplishment, according to Jolyon Palmer.

Piastri and Norris have dominated the opening half of F1 2025, with the former winning five races to dispel any notion of being McLaren’s ‘second’ driver.

Jolyon Palmer: Oscar Piastri winning the battle against Lando Norris

That’s the opinion of Palmer, who suggests that the Australian has managed to stem the tide from 2024, when he was a step behind his team-mate.

“I think he’s done well,” Palmer told the F1 Nation podcast. “You’ve got to remember also where he’s come from. This was a Norris team, really, last year.

“I know Piastri had some great days, couple of wins, but Lando was the Number 1. He won the Constructors’ Championship for them on the final day, winning the race, and he always seemed like he was going to be ahead. And then Melbourne came and he delivered a win from pole position as well.

“So I think the fact that Oscar’s managed to turn this around… even if they were split level, I think that’s a win for Oscar right now after 12 races.

“He’s been very impressive,” he added. “The question is then going to be about momentum and whether Lando can just find that form again that he showed last year to take it away.”

Piastri has come out swinging in F1 2025.

In Australia, he was shadowing his race-leading team-mate as rain hit Albert Park and sent both skating off the road and bouncing through the gravel.

While Norris was able to cover with little more than a red face, Piastri spun and took an age to recover from the wet grass.

He bounced back by dominating the Chinese Grand Prix with a consummate and underrated performance, doing so again in Bahrain. A wheel-to-wheel battle with Max Verstappen was resolved in the McLaren driver’s favour in Saudi Arabia before another strong performance in Miami saw him net three wins in as many starts.

Piastri won again in Spain in a season that has seen him off the podium just twice, but in the points in all 12 races thus far in F1 2025.

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“Oscar has had some unblemished weekends,” Palmer said amid discussion on whether a peakier season by Norris has reached higher highs.

“When you think of all the pressure that he’s been under in races, but he just seems like he’s cruising up front; Barcelona, China, these sort of races where they all look ordinary because he’s driving at such a level that he’s under no pressure.”

However, the ex-Renault racer has warned that Norris has more to come, evidenced by his performances in late 2024.

“But I still think with it, you’ve got the feeling that Norris isn’t yet 100 per cent comfortable with the car,” he reasoned.

“I do agree, maybe the peak for Lando could be higher, like we saw last year, if he can get confidence and just feel at one with the car again.

“We know that Oscar is happier with the car as it is; Lando is still trying to find ways around it with the suspension change that came in in Canada. If he can find a groove, I do wonder if he’s got another couple of per cent to be more routinely ahead. But he’s still got to go and find it.”

McLaren has maintained a firm policy against the use of team orders throughout F1 2025, allowing Piastri and Norris to battle it out on track.

That saw the pair make contact in Canada, with the Brit eliminating himself from the race after nosing into his team-mate’s rear wheel. A race later, there was a near miss as Piastri pinched a brake while challenging Norris for the race lead – a move that was deemed too marginal by the pit wall.

It’s a stance that has driven the team forward, moving it into a position at the halfway point of the championship where it tops the table with more than double the points of Ferrari in second.

However, with two competitive drivers sniping points from one another, the drivers’ title is somewhat closer; Piastri heads Norris by eight points with Verstappen third, albeit 61 points off the man he beat to the crown last year.

Still, with McLaren’s continued pace and consistency, it is becoming increasingly likely that whichever of its drivers leaves Abu Dhabi with the most points won’t just have won the intra-team battle, but also a maiden world championship.

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