Why Piastri is paying the price for McLaren's 'Norris era'

Oscar Piastri's third-place trophy from the 2025 season feels less like a reward and more like a reminder of what was taken from him. Despite a brilliant year that included a win, the Australian driver was repeatedly compromised by team strategy favoring his teammate, Lando Norris, raising serious questions about McLaren's internal dynamics and Piastri's future championship prospects within the team.

Why it matters:

McLaren secured its first drivers' title since 2008 with Norris, but the path to that crown involved controversial team orders and strategic calls that directly cost Piastri points and potentially race wins. This exposes a potential long-term problem for the team: how to manage two elite drivers when one is clearly positioned as the favored contender, risking the morale and performance of the other.

The details:

The 2025 season was punctuated by moments where Piastri's race was sacrificed for Norris's benefit.

• In Monza, a clear team order forced Piastri to cede position to Norris.
• In Qatar, a strategic error by the team, which Team Principal Andrea Stella admitted was to avoid Norris losing a place, robbed Piastri of a likely victory while he was in the lead.
• Questions also linger about the performance of Piastri's car, which seemed to change after his Dutch Grand Prix win, only to regain speed later in the season, coinciding with Max Verstappen closing in on Norris in the championship.

Between the lines:

The underlying narrative points to a deeply entrenched "Norris era" at McLaren. Norris, having endured the team's leaner years and backed publicly by CEO Zak Brown from the season's start, holds a privileged position. This was further complicated by Brown's now-severed financial ties to Norris's "Quadrant" business venture. The team's public commitment to equal treatment, the "Papaya Rules," appears to have been applied selectively to engineer Norris's title challenge, casting Piastri's public loyalty and self-critical comments in a new light—less as genuine reflection and more as professional necessity in a shifted power dynamic.

What's next:

Piastri's podium in the championship symbolizes a dilemma for McLaren heading into 2026. The central question is no longer if Piastri can be a world champion, but whether he can become one while still driving for McLaren. The team must navigate the delicate balance of celebrating a hard-won title with Norris while ensuring its other star driver doesn't feel—and isn't treated as—a clear number two. How they manage this internal dynamic will be crucial for maintaining a competitive lineup and avoiding a costly rift.