Two can't keep going into one for McLaren. Or can it?

Irish Examiner

7 days ago

Nine points separate Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in their duel for the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship, with 10 races to go.
What's remarkable is that, after 14 rounds, the relationship between the two remains civil – at least by teammate standards.
It's easy to be friendly when you're scrapping for eighth. It's far harder when the fight is for the top step of the podium. At some point, something has to give.
A few days before the Canadian Grand Prix, Norris echoed McLaren team principal Andrea Stella's assessment of the rivalry: 'It's not an 'if', it's a 'when' [they come to blows on track] and we'll see when that time comes.'
The 'when' arrived that Sunday. Norris ran wide onto the grass and into the back of Piastri. The crash left Oscar to limp home fourth while Lando retired. Yet, somehow, the pair emerged without any public fallout. Yes, there have been flashes of tension – inevitable in such a fight – but it has been far tamer than many expected.
After Fernando Alonso's 2018 departure and Stoffel Vandoorne's exit, the team paired Norris with Carlos Sainz – their first line-up since 2008 without a world champion.
The partnership clicked; the two got on well and raised each other's game. When Sainz left for Ferrari and Piastri arrived, the expectation was that Norris's experience would produce another lopsided teammate battle.
That's how it looked at first. Norris won the 2023 duel 205–97. In 2024, it was 374–292. Piastri showed promise but lacked the consistency to threaten his teammate over a full season. Few predicted that, in 2025, he'd be this close.
McLaren have been here before, though. Their history is littered with great – and combustible – partnerships. Divorce is usually the outcome.
The most famous is Alain Prost vs Ayrton Senna in 1988-89.
The 'Professor' and the fiery aggressor clashed repeatedly, notably at the 1988 Portuguese GP and in two infamous Suzuka collisions. They combined for 15 of 16 race wins in '88, with Senna edging the title fight.
In 1989 it swung Prost's way, but not after the first of the two Suzuka incidents. Senna needed a win to keep his championship hopes alive. On lap 46, Senna went for a move at the final chicane, colliding with Prost. The latter retired from the race but Senna went on to win, though was disqualified after cutting the chicane following the collision and crossing into the pit lane entry illegally, handing Prost the title.
Something had to give, and in 1990 Prost went to Ferrari – but their clashes only got worse. A second collision at the penultimate race in Suzuka would follow. Senna nine points ahead, he crashed into Prost at the first corner, taking them both out to win the title. The following season, Senna admitted that the move was deliberate.
In 2007, shades of the past returned for McLaren. Fernando Alonso arrived as a double world champion, paired with rookie Lewis Hamilton. Alonso had the upper hand early, but by mid-season Hamilton was leading the standings. The tension peaked in Hungary when Alonso blocked Hamilton in qualifying, preventing him from completing his final flying lap.
The battle continued on, nothing between them. Until Alonso made a mistake and crashed in Japan. The following round, it was Hamilton's turn for error in the penultimate race at China.
Two errors that ended up costing both the championship, as Kimi Räikkönen emerged to take the title at the last race in Brazil. It was the first time he had led the championship since the season opener at Melbourne.
No one had expected Hamilton to be so quick in his debut season. Not McLaren, and certainly not Alonso.
But that's the drawback with having two exceptional drivers fighting for a title. Two doesn't go into one.
Sometimes McLaren's pairings haven't boiled over, simply because the stakes weren't as high.
In 2006, two raw McLaren speedsters in Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and Räikkönen collided at the US. Montoya hit Kimi into a spin, before clattering Jenson Button to cause a multi-car accident.
In the aftermath Montoya quit and headed for NASCAR. When Button joined Hamilton at McLaren in 2010, harmony remained between the two, though their collision at Canada in 2011 was a flashpoint.
Button went on take the win in dramatic fashion, passing Sebastian Vettel on the final lap to secure one of the most memorable wins in F1 history. That likely kept the fallout to a minimum.
Norris/Piastri has shades of three rivalries. Räikkönen/Montoya, in that neither is a world champion, yet. Hamilton/Button for their Canadian clash; and Alonso/Hamilton, for the fact the 'newcomer' has been faster than the established star expected, even if it's taken Piastri two seasons to get to going.
All it's missing is the full Senna/Prost treatment. That's not to suggest Piastri and Norris are on par with two all-time greats. But with 10 rounds to go, only nine points between them, and no real outside challenge, it's not a matter of 'if', but 'when' it all implodes.