McLaren’s Rise – How Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri Are Shaping F1’s New Power Duo

As the 2025 Formula 1 season moves beyond its halfway point, McLaren have definitively shifted from hope to heavyweight contender.

With both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri standing first and second in the Drivers’ Championship – 234 points for Piastri to Norris’ 226 – the Woking squad have successfully dethroned long-standing front-runners and rewritten the competitive landscape.

Here, with the help of FIRST.com, the home of sport betting in the UK, we break down McLaren’s resurgence.

After Norris’ victory at a rain-soaked British Grand Prix, he and teammate Piastri have secured an astonishing nine race wins and five one-two finishes between them over just 12 races. That haul, complemented by 460 points collected so far, has seen McLaren streak 238 points clear in the Constructors’ Championship, underlining a season of rare dominance.

Both drivers have demonstrated complementary strengths. Norris, now in his seventh season, has matured into a powerhouse of pace and composure. Piastri, in just his third year, has swiftly established himself as a qualifying maestro and race strategist. They are shaping a tandem that balances aggression with precision, demonstrating the makings of a sustainable title challenge.

McLaren’s technical renaissance has been engineered by Peter Prodromou (aerodynamics chief) and Rob Marshall (specialist in mechanical grip), who joined from Red Bull in 2024.

Their collaborative efforts have yielded the MCL39, a machine competitive across contrasting circuits. From high-downforce venues like Monaco and Barcelona to power-dependent layouts such as Miami and Silverstone, McLaren has consistently closed the performance gap.

While the overall season average remains variable depending on circuit layout and conditions, McLaren have repeatedly demonstrated the capacity to match or even surpass Red Bull on pure pace at certain venues.

Recent improvements highlight the impact of continuous technical evolution, too. After introducing a revised floor and sidepod concept in Austria last July, the upgrades rolled through 2025 with renewed vigour.

McLaren’s pitstop performance remains among the best on the grid. A typical F1 tire-change pitstop takes around 2.5 seconds. At the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, McLaren set a world record of 1.80 seconds thanks to their crew’s spectacular work.

Piastri’s role cannot be understated, either. He currently leads Norris by eight points in the standings, a position still intact after finishing second at Silverstone despite a 10-second penalty for a safety-car infringement that scuppered a likely win.

Though frustrated, Piastri remained composed and determined, refusing to let misfortune derail his momentum. His internal competitiveness enhances McLaren’s dynamic driver pairing.

Of the 12 races contested, Piastri has amassed five wins, while Norris has claimed four, with the balance coming from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (three), showcasing how deeply entwined McLaren are in the title picture.

The fact that McLaren currently lead the Constructors’ Championship with a thoroughly dominant 460 points – 238 ahead of Ferrari (222) and 250 ahead of Mercedes (210) – reflects not only driver strength but a precision-crafted car and personnel structure.

Both Norris and Piastri have contributed evenly, making it clear that the team’s success is a product of integrated excellence rather than individual brilliance alone.

Yet challenges remain. Ferrari and Mercedes continue to evolve and Red Bull will respond forcefully. Still, McLaren’s consistent upgrades and rapid pile-on of pace suggest their current advantage isn’t a fluke. The technical framework and driver alignment they possess now are comparable to the foundations of championship-winning teams of the past.

If McLaren can maintain their adaptability and nose for development, their dual-driver strategy could turn early promise into sustained dominance. The season’s second half is shaping up to be a showdown—one in which McLaren are not merely present but firmly in control.