The McLaren intra-team title fight has had an intriguing effect on their relationship.

Oscar Piastri is now trailing his team-mate in the standings (Image: Getty)

Oscar Piastri believes that his relationship with team-mate Lando Norris is potentially better than it was at the start of their McLaren journey, despite becoming title rivals. The Australian racer now trails the Brit by 24 points with three races remaining in the 2025 season.

When the campaign began and McLaren’s advantage over the field was made clear, many speculated that an intra-team title fight could fracture the healthy relationship between Piastri and Norris. After all, with a regulation reset incoming this winter, this may be the only shot that either driver gets at an F1 crown in their careers. Initially, Piastri was the pace-maker. The Aussie won five of the first nine Grands Prix to make himself the man to beat, and after winning twice more in Spa and Zandvoort, his advantage was stretched to 34 points.

However, since then, his form has capitulated. Norris has now beaten his team-mate in the last six Grand Prix weekends, slashing Piastri’s advantage in a matter of weeks before opening his own 24-point buffer with three races remaining. And yet, despite the emotions of this ding-dong battle, their relationship remains unaffected.

“I think it’s either exactly the same or, honestly, probably better than it has been,” Piastri told the Beyond the Grid podcast. “I think, you know, that I think it’s better if anything, because we just know each other more now. We’ve been together for our third year as team-mates.

So we’ll just slowly get to know each other more and more. So I think from that side, you know, it’s probably in a better place than it ever has been. And I think we’re both the kind of people that what happens on track stays on track.

The relationship within McLaren remains strong (Image: Getty)

“There’s no kind of… maybe there’s, you know, short-lived emotions off the track, but I think we’re both quite good at just letting things die down and again, leaving things on the track. So from that side of things, that’s really not changed.

“You know, the way we’re still trying to get the most out of the team is exactly the same. And you know, we still want broadly similar things from the team, I think, and from the car. I think we probably have subtle differences that we’ve probably worked out more and more, what each of us likes from a car setup direction, and what our strengths and weaknesses are.

“But the broad messaging that we want from the team is the same still. So from that side of things, it’s all very similar to how it was two years ago.”