McLaren insiders say Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have ‘put their differences to one side’ after 2025 battle
· Yahoo Sports
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri appear to be putting their differences aside this season, coming together to help McLaren address some of the issues holding them back.
Last season, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were locked in a tight race for the championship. Norris ultimately came out on top, but Piastri’s performance made it clear he was a serious contender with a bright future ahead.
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Piastri may have brushed off rumours of tension within the team, but there’s no doubt both drivers were determined to get the better of each other throughout the title chase.
There had been talk that McLaren might have held back Norris in his battle with Piastri this year, but in reality, both drivers have been hampered by the team’s poor start to the season.
What has changed is how they’re approaching it. This time around, both drivers seem to be on the same page about what needs to happen next.
Will Buxton highlights McLaren’s appreciation for the new approach
Will Buxton shared on Up to Speed how McLaren view things after three races into the season. Speaking with people inside the team, there’s a sense that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have brought a positive shift in attitude, helping build a stronger mood around the garage.
He mentioned that both drivers seem more driven this year, and while they’ve left last season’s issues behind, they’re now focused on working together to help McLaren through a difficult start.
“I think the interesting thing at McLaren this year is if we take a look at both of the drivers, Lando has returned as the reigning world champion. The guys at McLaren are telling me that they feel like they’ve got the old Lando back.
“Last year, he had to be very channelled, very focused, very kind of take himself out of himself a little bit. But now that he’s proven he can win the world championship, doing it his way, and racing the way that he likes to race, that weight has kind of been alleviated… They’re absolutely loving that.”
Piastri hasn’t lost any determination either. If anything, Buxton says he’s come back even more intent on proving again what he showed last year: that he can compete for wins and championships.
Norris isn’t feeling pressure in quite the same way as before because now there is no clear number one team going into races. It’s something new for him as well as for Piastri.
The two seem to understand this new dynamic better than many might have expected heading into 2026 – and it’s something McLaren are clearly enjoying watching develop inside their walls.
McLaren engineers share honest feedback on MCL40
Buxton went on to share that McLaren engineers have been open about the MCL40 chassis falling short of expectations so far. They acknowledge there’s still plenty to fix before the car can be considered a front-runner.
“When a team is fighting for a championship, and there’s a huge regulation change coming, the teams that aren’t fighting for that world championship can realign their focus,” Buxton explained.
“They can look to the next year, they can look to working on that because they’re not working to develop a car that’s fighting for a world title in that moment. McLaren obviously came very close to missing out to Max. And they had to put the work in on 2025. Have they lost out a little bit in the run-up to 2026?
“I was talking to the guys from McLaren earlier today, and they said, ‘Obviously, there were comments at the start of the year about Mercedes power unit and needing to understand that a little bit more.’
“But they’ve since taken a look at the car and realised, ‘You know what, guys, we’ve actually got a lot of work to do on the chassis side of things…’ Let’s give them some time to pull it back.”
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