McLaren

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri pull out of F1 media duties as pressure mounts at Abu Dhabi GP

McLaren have grappled with claims of favouritism all season in F1.

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Thursday 4 December 2025 19:43

McLaren's F1 driver duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have dialled back on their usual media duties ahead of this weekend's title fight at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The season finale of the 2025 campaign will once again be hosted by the Yas Marina Circuit, where for the first time since 2021, the fight for the championship will go down to the wire.

After last weekend's Qatar GP, Norris still leads the standings, but Max Verstappen is just 12 points behind the Brit, and Piastri sits in P3, four points behind the Dutchman and 16 points away from his team-mate.

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All Norris needs to do to clinch his maiden drivers' title is finish on the podium on Sunday, but whilst this may appear a simple task, the 26-year-old has never been in this position before and is facing heavy criticism in the media.

Throughout this season, McLaren have been accused of favouring the Brit, and whilst the team have always denied this, it wasn't helped by an explosive report from Australian outlet CODE Sports that claimed Piastri had been 'banned' from speaking to Australian media ahead of the season finale.

Following a flurry of rumours about McLaren's media plans in Abu Dhabi, it has now been confirmed that neither driver will talk to the media from their own country or any other global reporters after their appearance in Thursday's FIA press conference.

Norris and Piastri focusing on title fight

McLaren declined to comment when contacted by GPFans but Sky F1 reporter Rachel Brookes took to social media from the Abu Dhabi paddock to clarify the situation.

Brookes wrote on social media platform 'X': "Seen some erroneous reports in the media. Just to clarify, other than the official FIA press conference where both drivers will appear, McLaren have denied access to either driver to ALL media to allow them to focus on the weekend."

Norris and Piastri were both present alongside title rival Verstappen in a packed media session on Thursday, where the trio were quizzed on everything from preparations for this weekend's race to their thoughts on team orders.

Norris maintained that he would not be comfortable winning the championship if it could only be done by Piastri having to sacrifice a win for himself, though only time will tell if McLaren are willing to issue such an order come Sunday's race.