F1 legend warns McLaren Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri setup 'doomed to fail'

Brundle holding a Sky microphone edited into the centre of Norris and Piastri facing each other in conversation — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

F1 legend warns McLaren Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri setup 'doomed to fail'

McLaren have made their rules clear to their drivers

By Sam Cook.

Sunday 19 October 2025 19:02

Formula 1 legend Martin Brundle has weighed in on the ongoing controversy surrounding Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, claiming that McLaren's driver setup is 'doomed to fail'.

Despite wrapping up the constructors' championship at the Singapore Grand Prix last time out, all the talk post-race centered on a coming together between the pair at turn one after Norris made contact with Piastri, having also made slight contact with Max Verstappen, which veered him into his teammate.

Piastri called for McLaren to take action over the incident, but the team refused, and the FIA also took no action against Norris. However, heading into the United States Grand Prix weekend, it was revealed that after review, Norris will face 'repercussions' for the incident, although the details of this have not been confirmed.

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Unfortunately for McLaren, Piastri and Norris then collided again during Saturday's US GP sprint. The first corner at COTA is often a hectic one, and an aborted overtake on his team-mate by Piastri saw him turn in tightly – right into the probing front wing of Nico Hulkenberg. That contact spun Piastri into Norris, spilling debris all over the track and damaging both Aston Martin cars in the deal. Both McLarens retired more or less on the spot.

Brundle on Norris-Piastri battle

Speaking on Sky Sports F1, the former grand prix driver turned pundit said that the gloves were now '100% off' between the pair, adding: "There’s a championship to be won, and they’ve both got a fantastic car at McLaren.

"Max is appearing in the rearview mirrors quite quickly as well in the last few races."

"In many respects, this setup is doomed to fail. You’ve got two supremely competitive athletes working in a team environment; it’s always going to go wrong.

"It’s just a question of how the teams handle it."

What repercussions is Norris facing after Singapore?

The comments from Norris during US GP media day have had the paddock speculating as to what his 'repercussions' may be.

McLaren have been coy about the kind of penalty that has been imposed on Norris, with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown saying it is a 'marginal' penalty due to Norris' gain from his move on Piastri in Singapore being a 'marginal' gain.

Another Sky Sports F1 pundit in Ted Kravitz asked Piastri ahead of the F1 action at the Circuit of the Americas what the repercussions might be, to which the Australian answered: "I can’t say what the repercussions are, it’s for the team to know… let your imagination run wild.

"Ultimately, he has taken responsibility and there is a form of repercussion for that yes."

Kravitz, keen to get to the bottom of this, pushed further, but was warned by a McLaren staff member that the details were the intellectual property of the team, and thus couldn’t be shared in the interview.

F1 McLaren Lando Norris Oscar Piastri Martin Brundle United States Grand Prix