Norris v Piastri. Will either become F1 Champion in 2025?

It’s been an impressive couple of years from McLaren. The turnaround from a midfield outfit to F1 Constructors Champions has been remarkable. This time last year nobody would have thought that McLaren would clinch the title and yet that’s exactly what happened. Could this be the season that one of their drivers becomes world champion? It’s not an outrageous thought.

Before last year, McLaren had not won the constructors since 1998. The last time a McLaren driver took the title was Lewis Hamilton in that famous Brazilian showdown in 2008. This year feels too early for Hamilton and his new Ferrari team to challenge consistently. Max Verstappen will be favourite to take what would be his fifth consecutive championship. But if there is any chink in the Red Bull armour, McLaren will be there. It might not even take that.

Pre-season testing looked good for McLaren. Of course there are the usual caveats as I wrote in my last substack (Read here) and we rarely know where the teams are until after qualifying at the first Grand Prix. McLaren should feel positive though, despite both Norris and Piastri playing things down.

I am writing this in Bahrain where I came to interview both drivers together, which might not sound too exciting but it is pretty unusual in F1. The chance to do one-to-one interviews with teammates is rare. Teams will do it for their social media but rarely hand these precious commodities over to accredited media. We’re obviously a terrifying bunch! (You’ll be able to see the first interview on Channel 4 in the U.K. during our coverage of the Australian Grand Prix.)

If Formula One rivalries in the past are anything to go by, then maybe it’s good that I got the interview done before the season has started. When two such talented drivers have the same equipment underneath them, they should be pushing each other and battling for a championship.  Such is the intensity, these rivalries rarely end in friendship, regardless of how strong the bond might be to start with. Most recently we saw it with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and we don’t need to go through the annals of time to remember all the famous inter-team championship battles and rivalries.

For Lando, last season was the first time he had been in contention for the F1 title. Max was always favourite and ultimately proved too strong. The damage was done in the first half of the season with seven wins before the summer break. It was cemented in a chaotic weekend in Brazil.  Max dominated in torrential rain whilst Lando could only manage sixth. Two weeks later in Las Vegas the Dutch driver won his fourth consecutive title.

Things are different this year and Lando Norris is a more complete driver. Last year was a series of firsts. His first Formula One Grand Prix victory. The first time he’d been in the heat of a championship battle. The first time he’d come under that level of scrutiny in the media. There’s no doubt that the  25 year old from England learned a lot and will be much more prepared this season.

And what about Oscar Piastri? Despite only being in his third year of Formula One, it would be foolish to rule him out. The 23 year old moved to the UK by himself ten years ago in order to follow his dream of becoming an F1 driver. He is that famous sporting cliché of an old head on young shoulders. He seems to have ice in his veins and an incredible ability to control his emotions whether it’s times of stress, the lows of disappointment or the joys of victory. He sounds exactly the same throughout all of them and I’m pretty sure his heart rate doesn’t fluctuate either.

The fact that he is managed by fellow Aussie Mark Webber is a huge plus. I’ve known Mark almost 20 years as both driver, a friend and now my colleague on television. He went through sone very tough championship battles when his teammate was Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull. It was brutal and whilst the record books show that Sebastian is a four-time world champion and Mark is not, you would struggle to find someone better positioned to pass on his learnings. It’s as much about what not to do as what Oscar should be doing.

The Australian Grand Prix is exactly two weeks today. Albert Park is just 15 minutes away from where Oscar grew up. Both he and Lando know that whoever lays down an early marker and can build momentum at the start of the season will have the edge in the inter-team battle. McLaren didn’t always handle things smoothly in terms of on track strategy last season but they too will have learned a lot. Zac Brown and Andrea Stella are born winners and now they’ve tasted success, they want more.

But as we know in Formula One things are rarely straightforward. In fact, the only known at this stage is that no one has won anything and no one has lost. Hopes and dreams are still intact. It’s all to play for.