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McLaren plans to let its drivers battle each other for F1 crown

AP photo by Altaf Qadri / From left, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, team principal Andrea Stella and driver Lando Norris stand on the podium after Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix on April 13 in Sakhir. Piastri won the race and Norris finished third, with Mercedes driver George Russell second.
AP photo by Altaf Qadri / From left, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, team principal Andrea Stella and driver Lando Norris stand on the podium after Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix on April 13 in Sakhir. Piastri won the race and Norris finished third, with Mercedes driver George Russell second. AP photo by Altaf Qadri / From left, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, team principal Andrea Stella and driver Lando Norris stand on the podium after Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix on April 13 in Sakhir. Piastri won the race and Norris finished third, with Mercedes driver George Russell second.

By JENNA FRYER / The Associated Press 8 min read

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Formula 1’s 2025 season still has 19 races to go and will stretch into early December, but there’s already a compelling championship battle with inner organization implications.

Oscar Piastri has aggressively shown he won’t sit behind (slightly) older teammate Lando Norris and allow the 25-year-old British driver to become the anointed No. 1 at McLaren Racing. The 24-year-old Australian did it by winning three of the first five races this season to take hold of the lead in the points standings.

Norris, at one time McLaren’s designated champion in waiting, sits second with 89 points — 10 behind Piastri — with one victory this season. And as F1 shifts to the United States for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix, McLaren CEO Zak Brown insisted there will be no internal trouble with this championship fight and that he’ll let it play out naturally. For now.

“Let them race,” Brown vowed to The Associated Press.

He will not designate a No. 1 driver and issue any team orders until a time comes when Norris or Piastri has clearly separated himself in the title race.