Formula 1 News: Piastri's aggression could backfire

(GMM) McLaren’s intra-team fight is now a two-way battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for the 2025 title – but tensions are beginning to rise.

Championship leader Piastri saw his lead shrink to just 9 points over Norris after Hungary, having led by 22 after Canada. The Australian finished behind Norris on Sunday despite running ahead earlier in the race, with Norris executing a bold one-stop strategy to win.

There was controversy late in the race when Piastri nearly collided with Norris in an aggressive overtaking attempt – triggering a warning from McLaren race engineers.

With two laps to go Oscar Piastri tries to pass Lando Norris under braking for Turn 1 and locks his right front tire.

“I still have to look back to see exactly what happened,” team principal Andrea Stella said afterwards. “But our reminder on the radio was to both drivers.

“The first rule is that they can’t go too aggressively next to each other on the inside, and the second is that they can’t move under braking.

“It’s natural that they want to bring out the best in themselves – but their battles must all take place according to our rules.”

Stella also denied any favouritism toward Norris.

“With the late second stop, we ensured that Oscar still had a fair chance of beating Lando. He was given the largest possible tire delta and enough laps to make up the deficit,” said the Italian.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown echoed the team’s stance: “Both have followed the Papaya rules.”

Still, Ralf Schumacher believes Piastri overstepped.

“That was too close,” said the German, to Sky Deutschland. “His radio messages show that Oscar is driven by ambition, and that can sometimes backfire. I’m surprised at how relaxed the team is about this and how they’re letting both of them drive freely.”

When asked about his shrinking lead, Piastri played it down.

“I mean, the biggest lead of the year has been 23, and it’s not moved within 10 points for the last ten races almost,” he said. “So, I’m not really that fussed with that. Obviously, it would have been nice to have the extra points, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a trend.”