Aug.25 (GMM) As F1 emerges from the August break, the battle for the 2025 world championship looks set to be a straight fight between McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
The pair insist their relationship will not turn into another Prost-Senna or Alonso-Hamilton rivalry, but former F1 driver Christian Danner is not so sure.
He says he saw McLaren’s dominance coming.
“Yes, that was foreseeable, because they’ve built a car that performs wonderfully on all types of tracks and in all weather conditions,” he told Express.
“And when things aren’t quite perfect, Norris and Piastri still finish on the podium. What surprises me, though, is that Mercedes went completely in the wrong direction.”
As for the dynamic between the two papaya-coloured cars and drivers, Danner admits it already has echoes of past intra-team battles.
“Yes, absolutely,” he said when asked if it’s like Hamilton versus Rosberg at Mercedes. “The pressure is rising. Everyone’s still acting relaxed, as there are still a lot of races to go. But if things continue like this, things will blow up.
“There was already a clash between the two in Montreal. When the world championship title is at stake, the fun is over.”
Indeed, Norris rear-ended Piastri in Canada, with Nico Rosberg even offering advice to the Briton afterwards. Danner says Norris has recovered since, but the pressure will only intensify.
“That applies to the driver as much as it does to the team,” he said. “You have to get used to winning. And having the composure to then translate that winning into the championship is the next step.
“I can only see progress at the moment – with the team, with Norris, but also with Piastri. They’re all getting better, which is why I say: the pressure is rising.”
Danner also touched on Lewis Hamilton’s difficulties at Ferrari.
“As long as Leclerc can secure pole position and more or less reliably make it onto the podium, and Hamilton can’t quite get there, it’s Hamilton who’s likely to struggle with the system,” he said.
“If you’ve driven for English racing teams all your life and are used to the way they work, then you naturally try to get that at Ferrari too. But that’s not working for Hamilton – nobody at Maranello cares.
“That’s why I think the talk in the paddock about him throwing in the towel is definitely something that could happen. We’ll see how it develops.”
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