May 18 (GMM) Team CEO Zak Brown insists McLaren is holding firm to its principles by refusing to nominate a number 1 driver for the drivers’ title quest.
Lando Norris headed into 2025 as the clear favourite and, indeed, led the championship early. More recently, however, Oscar Piastri has secured the obvious upper-hand and his run of form continues at Imola where he starts on pole.
Norris, meanwhile, is not even in the top three.
“If I had the answer, I would give it,” the Briton told Sky Deutschland when asked why he is struggling more than his Australian teammate with the otherwise dominant 2025 car.
Team boss Andrea Stella thinks Norris, 25, is not too far away from Piastri.
“He’s getting all the feedback he needs from the car,” said the Italian. “He’s just always a bit on alert, trying to listen to the car.
“But if you focus too much on that, you lose a few milliseconds here and there.”
Although Norris is still very much a title contender, reigning champion Max Verstappen defended the Briton amid his struggles. The Red Bull driver’s own boss, Dr Helmut Marko, thinks Piastri is the clear title favourite.
“Honestly, I think both of them are very good,” Verstappen told the Telegraph. “Lando, I think, has the pace. It just hasn’t really come out yet over a sustained period of time.
“But I think it’s still going to be a tight championship for them.”
But when a reporter pointed out that Verstappen is ahead of Norris on the Imola grid, the quadruple world champion almost let slip that he now regards Piastri as the biggest title threat.
“I don’t think he…” Verstappen started. “Oscar is ahead of me.”
Verstappen is not ready to give up the chase in his Red Bull, whose Imola upgrades appear to have worked. “Absolutely yes,” the Dutchman agreed when asked if his car felt better than ever in qualifying on Saturday.
“Everyone knows that these races are crucial. Everyone wants to move forward with these updates. I just have to apply controlled pressure. McLaren is still the big favourite.”
A truly equal and free Norris-Piastri battle for the drivers’ title, however, could end up handing a fifth consecutive crown to Verstappen.
A journalist for Bild newspaper apologised to McLaren CEO Brown for asking the irritating question of whether he is considering elevating Piastri to clear number 1 status.
“Oh no, that question doesn’t bother me at all,” the American smiled. “But maybe some people are annoyed by the answer because it’s always the same.
“We have two number 1 drivers. We’ll continue to communicate this in the future. No matter where they stand in the drivers’ standings, we’ll treat them equally. Because they’re both great,” Brown concluded.
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