McLaren F1 stars Piastri, Norris warned of growing teammate tension

Herald Sun

2 days ago

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Former Formula 1 star David Coulthard has predicted the rivalry between McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris could 'boil over' as the championship battle between the papaya pair heats up in the second half of the season.
While Formula 1's stars enjoy their summer break, the championship frontrunners will renew their title fight when the season resumes in the Netherlands later this month.
Piastri holds a narrow nine-point lead over his British teammate, who has won three out of the past four grand prix to eat into the Australian's advantage.
As both drivers chase their maiden Formula 1 world crown, McLaren's famous 'papaya rules' have allowed their drivers to race each other, with the one clear stipulation that it is kept clean without making contact with one another.
There was one dramatic run-in between the pair at the Canadian Grand Prix in June when Norris collided with Piastri.
Norris admitted fault after running into the rear tyre of Piastri while attempting to overtake on pit straight and ending up crashing into the concrete barrier, ending his race, while Piastri finished fourth.
Reflecting on the 'volatile' nature of intra-team relationships, former McLaren star Coulthard said there had already been 'little signs' of the battle bubbling over between the papaya pair.
'(Teammates) …. it's a misnomer. He's not your mate. He's your biggest rival,' Coulthard said on the Indo Sport podcast.
'He is the person that your success is his failure and vice versa. And you take pleasure in their failure. It's as simple as that because it leads and builds.
'You're hoping that it psychologically creates a problem for them that will give you an edge.
'It's a very volatile relationship to manage, and it's one of the most difficult roles for the team principal, whether it was Ron Dennis for Alain Prost and (Ayrton) Senna, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet under Frank Williams, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
'These are difficult situations which inevitably we will see boil over at McLaren, as with Lando and Oscar. We've seen little signs of it.
'One of those guys will be world champion this year, and it might be the only chance they get. Next year's McLaren might not be any good.
'It's a completely different sport next year. It's still called Formula 1, but this could be their one chance.'
Piastri, who will have a grandstand named after him at his home grand prix at Albert Park next year, has scored points in every race so far this season.
The 24-year-old has acknowledged the battle for the title is now a 'two-horse race' with Red Bull's four-time world champion Max Verstappen a further 88 points behind Norris, but has said it's far too early to consider taking the safe route and banking points.
'Even now it's too early to kind of just bank points and finish races for the sake of finishing races,' Piastri told motorsport.com.
'You still need to try and put your best foot forward and score points.
'Obviously now in the driver's championship it's very much a two-horse race, so there is kind of some one-on-one racing in some ways, which is probably a little bit of a change from what we've done previously.
'But a lot of what we've done previously has been to try and win constructors' championships, and get the team the most points. When you're fighting for first and second, you're still getting the same amount of points.
'So there's probably a few changes with that, but a lot of rules of engagement and the general philosophy of how we go racing is still very much the same.'
Originally published as McLaren F1 stars Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris warned of growing teammate tension by F1 great