How quickly things can change in Formula One. McLaren's time in the 2020s is the embodiment of that realization. The Woking-based team's fortunes have seen them bounce from occasional podium finishers to being the slowest outfit on the grid, and now to being the sport's dominant constructor. It's a remarkable turnaround. And one that Lando Norris witnessed each lap of. However, judging by early 2025, Norris is not the driver set to benefit most.
Oscar Piastri's McLaren announcement was one of 2022's shock moments. This untested youngster from Melbourne was to replace struggling compatriot, but established racewinner, Daniel Ricciardo. Zak Brown's faith in Piasti even had McLaren's lawyers heading to court to fight Alpine for his signature. If people hadn't heard of the then F2 champion, they certainly had after his infamous tweet snubbing Alpine.
Piastri has honed his craft over his first two seasons racing in F1 to a now-enviable level. Single-lap speed was never an issue, but his race pace suffered compared to Norris in the sister car. With the Aussie seldom making mistakes or crashing, that slower speed seemed to be Piastri's only failing. 2025 has had something click for Piastri, though, and he's becoming the complete weekend package and now leads the World Drivers' Championship.
Norris: The McLaren Man?
Just as McLaren's fortunes have switched from struggles to heroics, Norris might wonder how his status in the team could change so much. Following two unremarkable seasons with McLaren's previous graduate, Stoffel Vandoorne, Norris' F1 arrival had McLaren switching their junior backing in his direction. It was a new beginning for the team with Carlos Sainz stepping into Fernando Alonso's vacated seat.
That 2019 line-up had McLaren score their best points haul in five years. That was despite them boasting a double-champion pairing with Jenson Button partnering Alonso during those previous seasons. Sainz and Norris were younger and hungrier and brought back regular points. Norris learned a lot from his Spanish teammate, both on and off the track, and "Carlando" secured the team a P3 finish in the Covid-affected 2020 season.
Ferrari's surprise dropping of Sebastian Vettel in 2021 broke up that bromance, though, and a new Norris emerged. Brown's recruitment of Ricciardo looked inspired after the Aussie had dragged his 2020 Renault to podium success. Norris, now the long-standing driver at McLaren, had to assert his authority. It seemed to work, too, with regular podium trips going the Briton's way over 2021's early races. Yet fate saw Ricciardo, not Norris, as the one to lead McLaren's historic 1-2 finish in Monza.
Nonetheless, Lando’s consistency heaped pressure on an otherwise underperforming Ricciardo. The honey badger's torrid 2022 left an 85-point gap between the pair in the standings, and his McLaren time was over. Norris had fended off the threat from a known F1 quantity and greatly increased his stock. Moreover, McLaren was increasingly becoming his team, and their recruitment of an unknown rookie driver in Piastri only cemented that.
Piastri's First F1 Steps
Piastri's debut races proved tricky to judge. McLaren had arrived at pre-season testing with an underpowered car that left their two drivers at the back. That all changed by the summer, with an upgrade package many in the paddock called a B-spec machine. Suddenly Norris was a frontrunner, and only Max Verstappen in the incredible RB19 stood between him and victory. Seven podium trips to Piastri's two showed how the races fell in the Briton's favor. Again, though, fate had an Australian upstage Norris. The rookie racer Piastri took a Sprint win in Qatar while Norris still had no P1 to his name.
That changed in 2024. Luck and a competitive car meant Norris was finally an F1 race winner after victory in Miami. With the monkey off his back, Norris took three more wins over the season to help McLaren score their first World Constructors' Championship this century. Yet, no matter what narrative the British media tried to tell, Norris was nowhere near the title and slumped to a vice-champion accolade instead.
McLaren had the best car by far, but strategy calls either cost them victory (see the Italian GP) or made their wins more challenging than they needed to be (see the Hungarian GP). Further adding to the problem was Norris continually falling back on Lap 1. All of these issues combined lost Norris a shot at the title, and it might be his only chance. All the while, Piastri's growth had continued. He had closed the gap on Norris on Sundays and even scored his first Grand Prix win.
Norris vs Piastri - The 2025 Title
Any gap between McLaren's drivers in 2024 had vanished by 2025. The team entered the season with the grid's best car for their duo. Norris may have won the season opener, but Piastri was closing rapidly before heavy rain turned the race on its head. It was a sign of the tide turning for Norris. Piastri was no longer struggling for Sunday speed and promptly won the next race in China after securing pole position. This change was not the script that Norris had signed up for.
Verstappen's incredible Suzuka qualifying lap essentially secured the Dutchman the win in a hard-to-pass Japanese GP. Yet the story of that race was Piastri's relentless race pace that kept him on Norris' tail throughout those 53 dull laps. Might Piastri have found a way past for the win where Norris did not even try? Judging by the following three rounds, you'd have to imagine so. Piastri surged to pole and victory in Bahrain while a Norris mistake had him falter. Then the Aussie went wheel-to-wheel against Verstappen in Saudi Arabia and Miami and calmly beat the four-time champion to bring home three successive wins.
Time on the team may count for something for Norris, but ultimately, the results matter. He fared well against Sainz and all but killed Ricciardo's career, but this third-year Piastri could be his limit. The Melbourne man's faultless driving has him leading the championship, while Norris still makes errors that a 134 grand prix starter shouldn't make. There's still time for Norris to fight back, of course, but it needs to be quick - who knows how long this title-contending period will last. If Norris doesn't change something soon, he could join his old teammates as yet another fast race winner who never took a championship.
