Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri told by McLaren F1 boss what will decide title fight
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has told his title-chasing drivers exactly what factors will decide the outcome of their battle for individual glory. McLaren have been so dominant this year that the constructors' championship already looks like little more than a formality.
They are 268 points ahead of nearest challengers Ferrari after only 13 rounds of the 24-race season. There is still a long way to go but, with most teams now focused on developing their 2026 cars for the new regulations, only a far-fetched series of events will stop them now.
But there is still plenty to be decided in the hunt for the drivers' title. Max Verstappen is slipping further back and seems highly unlikely to make it five in a row now, and so it is down to the two McLaren drivers to beat each other to individual honours.
Lando Norris looked to have been building momentum heading towards the summer break. His back-to-back wins in Austria and at Silverstone, in front of his home fans, saw him narrow the gap to Oscar Piastri above him in the championship to just a single-figure amount.
But then the balance of power shifted again at Spa-Francorchamps. Norris got pole but it was Piastri who flew through on the first lap to take the lead and control of Sunday's Grand Prix and, from there, he controlled it with the finesse and calm for which the young Aussie has become so well respected during his still relatively short time in Formula 1.
What is clear is that both drivers are operating at an astonishing level, no doubt being pushed to those heights by one another. The points gap between them has been very narrow for some time now and it looks likely to be the case for much of the rest of the year if they can both keep up this standard.
Their boss Stella thinks their can and believes it will be the finest of margins which decides who will be the drivers' champion by the end of the year. He said: "There is very, very little between our two drivers, and this is because the two drivers are racing at a very, very high level.
"We are lucky at McLaren to have two drivers that deservedly are fighting for the World Championship. I think the difference will be made by the accuracy, the precision, the quality of the execution. We saw in Silverstone that an issue, a sporting issue for Oscar during the Safety Car restart, and the consequent penalty cost him the race.
And here we saw that somehow related to the circuit characteristic, like you said before, like it would have always been very difficult for Lando to keep the position, starting first, at the same restart. At the same time, I think Lando didn't help himself. So I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference.
"We as a team, we will try and make sure that from a reliability point of view, from team operation point of view, we are as good as possible such that you will be the drivers deciding their own outcome in terms of competing for the Drivers' World Championship."
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South Wales Guardian
25 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Lando Norris ready to go all the way in championship battle with Oscar Piastri
Norris started third and dropped to fifth after a poor first corner at the Hungaroring before he rolled the strategy dice – stopping one less time than his rivals – to take the lead and then held off Piastri's late charge in a brilliant finale. Piastri came within centimetres of colliding with Norris on the penultimate lap when he momentarily lost control of his McLaren as he attempted a banzai move for the win. Norris ⚔️ Piastri: How did they not collide?! 😱#F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2025 But Norris survived and held his nerve to keep the fast-charging Australian at bay to land his fifth win of the season – his third in his last four appearances – taking the chequered flag just six tenths clear and reducing the championship deficit to nine points with 10 rounds remaining. Max Verstappen, who finished ninth on Sunday, remains in third in the standings but 97 points off the championship pace. 'I'm dead,' said Norris. 'In the final stint Oscar was catching and I was pushing flat out. My voice has gone a little bit. 'It has been a tough battle so far with Oscar and it is going to continue to be tough. The margins between us are pretty small. There are things I can do better and improve on, and I am sure he will probably say the same thing. So, it is going to be a good and tough fight, probably until the end. 'Even though the results have looked great, I'm not making my life very easy at the minute. If I can work on those things, then I'll be in a better place.' Norris' win in the concluding round before the summer break reignites his bid to land a maiden world crown. But the Bristolian can count himself somewhat fortunate to be standing on the top step of the podium. At the start, Norris got away well from his marks, but an attempt to pass Piastri on the inside of the opening corner backfired. DRIVER STANDINGS (AFTER 14/24 ROUNDS) Oscar Piastri takes a nine-point lead into the summer break#F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2025 Norris did not commit to the overtake and that left him in no-man's land, allowing George Russell and then Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso to breeze through. On lap three, Norris fought his way clear of Alonso but was then tucked up behind Russell and making little progress. Piastri and Charles Leclerc, who controlled the first stint of the race from pole position, stopped for new tyres on laps 18 and 19 respectively. Russell also peeled into the pits on lap 19 promoting Norris to the front. McLaren were now considering a one-stop strategy. Norris' race engineer, Will Joseph, was on the radio: 'Lando, 40 laps on the hard tyre, you up for it?' Norris replied: 'Yeah, why not?' On lap 31 of 70, the Englishman came in for his sole change of tyres before lighting up the timesheets with the fastest laps of the race so far. In his haste to catch up, Norris then dropped two wheels through the gravel on the exit of the chicane, which irked Joseph. 'Lando, just keep the focus, we don't want these mistakes,' he said. Leclerc, Piastri and Russell were all forced to stop again. When it all shuffled out, Norris led Leclerc by seven seconds, with Piastri five seconds further back. But Piastri was on the move, swatting Leclerc aside on lap 51 and then set about reducing Norris' nine-second advantage. With five laps to go, Piastri was just a second behind his team-mate, and on the penultimate lap, the Australian went for glory at the first bend. However, Norris retained his composure and remained ahead to land what could be a pivotal win in his championship charge. Russell took the final place on the podium with Leclerc a disappointed fourth. The next race takes place in the Netherlands on August 31.
Rhyl Journal
25 minutes ago
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Lando Norris ready to go all the way in championship battle with Oscar Piastri
Norris started third and dropped to fifth after a poor first corner at the Hungaroring before he rolled the strategy dice – stopping one less time than his rivals – to take the lead and then held off Piastri's late charge in a brilliant finale. Piastri came within centimetres of colliding with Norris on the penultimate lap when he momentarily lost control of his McLaren as he attempted a banzai move for the win. Norris ⚔️ Piastri: How did they not collide?! 😱#F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2025 But Norris survived and held his nerve to keep the fast-charging Australian at bay to land his fifth win of the season – his third in his last four appearances – taking the chequered flag just six tenths clear and reducing the championship deficit to nine points with 10 rounds remaining. Max Verstappen, who finished ninth on Sunday, remains in third in the standings but 97 points off the championship pace. 'I'm dead,' said Norris. 'In the final stint Oscar was catching and I was pushing flat out. My voice has gone a little bit. 'It has been a tough battle so far with Oscar and it is going to continue to be tough. The margins between us are pretty small. There are things I can do better and improve on, and I am sure he will probably say the same thing. So, it is going to be a good and tough fight, probably until the end. 'Even though the results have looked great, I'm not making my life very easy at the minute. If I can work on those things, then I'll be in a better place.' Norris' win in the concluding round before the summer break reignites his bid to land a maiden world crown. But the Bristolian can count himself somewhat fortunate to be standing on the top step of the podium. At the start, Norris got away well from his marks, but an attempt to pass Piastri on the inside of the opening corner backfired. DRIVER STANDINGS (AFTER 14/24 ROUNDS) Oscar Piastri takes a nine-point lead into the summer break#F1 #HungarianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) August 3, 2025 Norris did not commit to the overtake and that left him in no-man's land, allowing George Russell and then Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso to breeze through. On lap three, Norris fought his way clear of Alonso but was then tucked up behind Russell and making little progress. Piastri and Charles Leclerc, who controlled the first stint of the race from pole position, stopped for new tyres on laps 18 and 19 respectively. Russell also peeled into the pits on lap 19 promoting Norris to the front. McLaren were now considering a one-stop strategy. Norris' race engineer, Will Joseph, was on the radio: 'Lando, 40 laps on the hard tyre, you up for it?' Norris replied: 'Yeah, why not?' On lap 31 of 70, the Englishman came in for his sole change of tyres before lighting up the timesheets with the fastest laps of the race so far. In his haste to catch up, Norris then dropped two wheels through the gravel on the exit of the chicane, which irked Joseph. 'Lando, just keep the focus, we don't want these mistakes,' he said. Leclerc, Piastri and Russell were all forced to stop again. When it all shuffled out, Norris led Leclerc by seven seconds, with Piastri five seconds further back. But Piastri was on the move, swatting Leclerc aside on lap 51 and then set about reducing Norris' nine-second advantage. With five laps to go, Piastri was just a second behind his team-mate, and on the penultimate lap, the Australian went for glory at the first bend. However, Norris retained his composure and remained ahead to land what could be a pivotal win in his championship charge. Russell took the final place on the podium with Leclerc a disappointed fourth. The next race takes place in the Netherlands on August 31.
Daily Mirror
25 minutes ago
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Lando Norris said what every F1 fan is thinking with eight-word claim after Hungarian GP
Oscar Piastri leads the Formula 1 standings by just nine points after British McLaren team-mate Lando Norris got the better of the Aussie at the Hungarian Grand Prix "I look forward to plenty more of these," said Lando Norris after a nail-biting late duel with title rival Oscar Piastri. So do we, Lando, because the Brit pulled off superb one-stop strategy to secure a third win in his last four and fifth overall of 2025. He heads into the summer break just nine points behind his McLaren team-mate at the top of the championship as a result. Charles Leclerc, 27, started on pole and led the first half of the race, his Ferrari capable of holding off the marauding McLarens. But a mystery issue struck which saw him drop back and from that point, a 200th F1 win for McLaren was a formality. What still needed to be decided was which driver would secure it. Norris found himself leading after changing strategy to a one-stop, but was being hunted down by Piastri late on. He said: "The last few laps were the toughest because Oscar was pushing flat out on much nicer tyres than mine. I was just trying to not make a mistake and when the tyre is so at the end of its stint, it is so easy to lock up." But it was Piastri who did that and only narrowly avoided ploughing into his team-mate on the penultimate lap. After that hair-raising moment, he was told over the radio to "remember how we go racing", and didn't try to overtake again, crossing the line 0.6 seconds behind Norris. George Russell, 27, made it to third in his Mercedes, sweeping past Leclerc who had spent the last 30 laps raging about his flagging Ferrari. The Monegasque has now converted just one of his last SIXTEEN pole positions into victory. He moaned: "It's frustrating to have everything under control, to know the pace is in the car to win, and then to be nowhere and we even lost the podium, so very disappointing." Things were no better for Ferrari in the other car as Lewis Hamilton, 40, finished 12th, where he started, one lap down. On Saturday he declared himself "useless" and said the team "probably need to change driver" after his qualifying shocker. His mood was no better after yesterday's race as he offered a cryptic explanation of his comments the previous day. Sky Sports launches discounted Formula 1 package This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more £43 £35 Sky Get Sky Sports here Product Description Head bowed, the seven-time champ said: "When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There is a lot going on in the background that is not great." Hamilton needs this summer break more than anyone right now but did declare: "I still love racing." Max Verstappen, 27, laboured to ninth in a Red Bull car that has regressed horribly and escaped a penalty when accused of running Hamilton off the road. That was just one week on from his Sprint victory in Belgium and he looked puzzled as he said: "This weekend, nothing worked unfortunately. We're not at the level of McLaren who are doing a really good job, but this is just a bit weird for us."
