‘He’s not become Superman’ – Piastri not expecting Norris’ championship to change dynamics at McLaren

Oscar Piastri believes that the dynamics between himself and team mate Lando Norris will remain unchanged following Norris’ World Championship victory, with the Australian suggesting that the win does not mean that his fellow McLaren driver has “become Superman”.

A closely-fought battle played out between the pair – and fellow championship contender Max Verstappen – for the 2025 crown, a season that saw Piastri head the standings following a strong run in the earlier stages of the campaign before Norris retook the lead after his dominant triumph in Mexico.

It was ultimately the Briton who held on to the top spot through to the finale in Abu Dhabi, securing his maiden title by two points from Verstappen while Piastri ended the year 13 points adrift in third.

When asked if the dynamics between them could consequently change going forward – and whether it will now be harder to fight Norris as the reigning World Champion – Piastri denied that this will be the case.

“No, I don’t think so,” the 24-year-old answered. “I don’t think that will change anything. For me, he’s obviously had a great season this year and a deserving champion, but he’s still Lando Norris. It’s not like he’s become Superman.

“So, I don’t think things will change with that. I’m expecting full fairness from the team and equality going forward. I don’t have any concerns that that will change at all. Clearly, Lando’s had a very strong season this year, and ultimately did a better job.”

McLaren became known for their ‘papaya rules’ in 2025, with the squad voicing their intention to treat Norris and Piastri equally and give both the same opportunity to win the title. While this approach occasionally came in for criticism, Piastri believes that the outfit’s success in both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championship shows that the strategy has worked.

“I think it is a testament to the way we go racing,” the nine-time race winner explained. “Obviously, it’s not easy fighting for both the Constructors’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship with two very evenly matched drivers. But ultimately, that’s a problem we knew we were going to have.

“At the end of the day, I think there’s a lot of good things that come from that. Yes, there’s difficult moments and tension at times, but I think both Lando and I have become better drivers from pushing each other to the limit.

“Sometimes that’s been uncomfortable for everyone, but ultimately, yeah, it’s been a good thing. We’ve had a lot of discussions through the year, and I’m sure we’ll have discussions in the off-season about anything we want to do slightly differently for next year.

“But I think at the end of the day, they gave us both as good a chance as the team could have to fairly fight for a World Championship, and that’s all you can ask for.”