McLaren F1 boss admits fears over Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri relationship after title fight

McLaren

McLaren F1 boss admits fears over Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri relationship after title fight

Last year was pretty heavy for both of them...

Chris Deeley

Sunday 9 August 2026 17:30

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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has admitted that there was no guarantee his drivers would come into the 2026 season willing to work with each other as before, after a hard-fought title race last year.

It was Lando Norris who came out on top in that squabble, taking his first F1 title while Oscar Piastri was pushed down into third – albeit just 13 points behind.

Speaking over the summer break, Stella has admitted that while he expected Norris to be fully bought in after his championship season, things were 'not quite so predictable' for the Australian after the disappointment of missing out.

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The Italian engineer claimed he is 'very pleased' with how the pair are performing overall in 2026 despite the team being 159 points behind Mercedes in the constructors' championship, with Norris and Piastri fifth and seventh respectively in the drivers' standings.

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Stella: New regulations have been disruptive for drivers

"I am very pleased with how our driver line-up is performing in this early part of the 2026 season," Stella told the team's website. "For Oscar and Lando - as indeed for their twenty colleagues on the F1 grid - the impact of the new regulations has been nothing short of disruptive.

"The new generation of single-seaters requires not only an adaptation of driving style but, above all, much greater focus on understanding how to exploit the full potential offered by the new power units.

"The learning process has at times proved complicated and was slowed down, particularly in the early stages, by various reliability issues. Both have responded in the right way, working with great commitment alongside the team, day in, day out.

"There is still room for improvement, particularly regarding the power unit, and we are working very well with our partners at HPP, including on the interaction between the driver and the power unit.

Norris and Piastri, best bros?

On Norris and Piastri's relationship specifically, he continued: "Another aspect I’m really enjoying about our drivers is the way they’re working together.

"It wasn’t a given that, after last year - when they found themselves battling for the world title right up to the final race - the harmony they’d built would remain intact: yet not only has this not changed, but the relationship between them and with the team has actually become even stronger.

Stella did have fears about the Norris-Piastri relationship.

"And whilst this might, in a sense, have been expected of Lando - given that he was ultimately the one to become champion - it was not quite so predictable for Oscar, who, instead, has relied even more heavily on the team to accelerate his development, both on and off the track."

F1 McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Andrea Stella