F1 insider slams McLaren and Lando Norris favoritism claim that 'makes no sense'

A straight faced Zak Brown is flanked by a smiling Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

F1 insider slams McLaren and Lando Norris favoritism claim that 'makes no sense'

Piastri F1 fans have claimed the Aussie is being hard done by

By Chris Deeley.

Saturday 1 November 2025 17:05

Formula 1 insider Ralf Schumacher has once again called out those claiming McLaren are favoring Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in the fight for the drivers' championship.

Norris leads the standings once again following his dominant win at the Mexico Grand Prix last time out, turning around a big points deficit in recent weeks to take advantage of his teammate's struggles.

However, those struggles have only encouraged a number of particularly tedious fans who have spent much of the season compiling a backlog of imagined slights and miscellaneous pieces of evidence so flimsy they dissipate in a light breeze, claiming that Piastri is being treated poorly by the team in favor of Norris.

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The online clamour around the idea that Norris is being unfairly favoured has reached the point that a number of pundits have felt the need to address the idea – although Schumacher's latest take is at least a new variation on 'no, obviously this isn't true'.

The German has dismissed the conspiracies, which he described this week as 'bull****', but pointed a finger of blame at Piastri and manager Mark Webber for playing into them somewhat.

McLaren conspiracy makes no sense

He continued: "If you start making excuses, saying things like, 'The car is completely different', or 'Something's not right here', and then you see Webber constantly on the phone, then people on the outside can easily get the impression that they're no longer entirely satisfied.

"And that would be disastrous. So now management needs to step up and say, hey, focus."

Piastri goes into next weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix just a single point behind Norris, but it will be the first time since Saudi Arabia that the Brit will go into a race weekend with the championship lead.

What psychological advantage that may or may not have for either driver remains to be seen, whilst the McLaren duo must also not forget about Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull star trailing Norris by just 36 points ahead of Sao Paulo.

F1 McLaren Oscar Piastri Ralf Schumacher