Lando Norris admits Oscar Piastri differences amid McLaren F1 title fight

Lando Norris has reflected on his F1 team-mate Oscar Piastri, and whether their relationship has changed during their title fight at McLaren.

Following McLaren’s gradual resurgence during the 2024 season, the Woking-based team emerged as the main title contenders at the start of this season with Piastri enjoying a purple patch at the beginning of the season.

Indeed after Norris’ DNF at the Dutch Grand Prix it seemed it was Piastri’s title to lose, but since Baku, the Aussie’s pace has dwindled away and his team-mate has only grown stronger.

The Brazilian GP was a nightmare weekend for Piastri, who crashed out in the sprint race and received a 10-second time penalty in the grand prix after a botched overtake on Kimi Antonelli, finishing fifth.

At the Las Vegas Grand Prix last time out, both drivers were disqualified for excessive wear on their skid blocks, but Norris had originally finished ahead of Piastri once again.

Now, with only two rounds remaining, Norris leads Piastri by 24 points, a gap that originally appeared impossible after the Brit’s oil leak at Zandvoort.

Norris addresses Piastri relationship

During Wednesday's press conference at the Las Vegas GP, Norris was asked why we no longer see fun social media videos from the McLaren pair and whether the Brit’s relationship with Piastri has changed.

"No. I think the reason you see less videos is because we both asked to do less videos. We’re racing drivers. We want to come and drive, not make videos for social media. So yeah, that’s our request as drivers. But we still get made to do plenty.

"Otherwise, it's still the same. And I'm very happy – I think we both are – that that's how it is. It's not because that's just how it is, it's because we both have a lot of respect for one another and we both understand the position that we're in.

"And we both treat the world of driving versus just personally what we're like away from the track quite differently. That's how I've always been. I feel like I've always got on well with my teammates since karting. I've always wanted to because it just makes my life more fun, more enjoyable, and that's also why I'm here – because I love what I do. So the more I can do that, the better."

Norris then provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse into his relationship with Piastri, and how well they get along outside of the racing environment.

"But we still very much understand that we’re here, we work for McLaren, we want the best for the team, we work very hard," the Brit continued.

"And, as drivers always do, you try and maximise your own performance more than anything. But then when we step out of the car, we can still have a joke, we still have laughs in our debriefs, and we still enjoy everything away from the track. So, no. I think it's still better than ever in many ways. I think we’re still very different people.

"He’s very calm, down to earth, very relaxed – always looks, just cool. And that’s something I admire quite a bit – how plain sailing he is with a lot of things. It’s a good attribute to have.

"Always hard to read what mood he’s in, but… and I think probably for me, you see more visually the moods I’m in. But otherwise, it's not like we go play golf together and do things like I have done with Carlos. Daniel – I didn’t play golf with, but, you know, we’re still different people. But in terms of relationship – we get along well, we still work together well, and I think it's still better than it's ever been."

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