Lando Norris was immediately taken by surprise by one thing he saw in Oscar Piastri’s data after he joined McLaren

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The rivalry between McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri is likely to decide the destination of the drivers’ championship this season.

Lando Norris joined McLaren in 2019 and immediately started putting pressure on teammate Carlos Sainz.

However, it wasn’t until the arrival of Daniel Ricciardo that Norris really started to show his Formula 1 pedigree.

Ricciardo started to struggle at McLaren and ahead of the 2023 F1 season, it was decided that he should be replaced by fellow Australian Oscar Piastri.

Piastri’s mother explained the difficulties of her son replacing Ricciardo and how that went down in their homeland, but the former Alpine junior quickly went to work to show Andrea Stella and Zak Brown that they had made the right choice.

The former Formula 2 champion’s first six months with McLaren weren’t easy as the Woking-based outfit were well off the pace of where they wanted to be.

However, their sudden improvement has put Piastri and Norris in pole position for the drivers’ championship, and despite the Brit being Max Verstappen’s closest challenger last year, it’s his less experienced teammate leading the charge in 2025.

Piastri has now overtaken Norris’ tally of F1 victories and journalist Mark Hughes has shared an anecdote from when the 24-year-old first joined the team and the impact he immediately made on his new intra-team rival.

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Oscar Piastri ‘really opened’ Lando Norris’ eyes after he first saw his McLaren F1 data

Hughes was speaking on the Driving Style Secrets Podcast about Piastri’s racecraft and explained: “That commitment to that precision I’m sure is what helps him to be super fast in the fast corners.

“That is the one thing that really opened Lando’s eyes when he first arrived looking at his telemetry.

“He may not always have been able to put the lap together, and he had to struggle with the adaptation of the tyres, but he was quick through the fast corners, really, really quick.

“He’s one of the outstanding three drivers on the grid in terms of that.

“Just his calmness and his uncluttered way of driving, uncluttered way of structuring his performance.”

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David Coulthard and Nico Rosberg agree on Oscar Piastri’s biggest strengths in Formula 1

Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix could be the perfect representation of how Norris and Piastri are approaching this season.

Piastri started on pole position, but not before Norris tried to get a tow from his teammate on his first run to try and gain any advantage possible.

However, when it came to their last laps, Piastri was on the limit and in control, while Nico Rosberg immediately noticed his McLaren rival overdriving.

During the race, David Coulthard praised Piastri’s race management, as he never allowed Norris to close up to him after losing out to Verstappen going into the first corner.

Rosberg was also convinced by Piastri’s tyre management during the race as McLaren worked on a two-stop strategy before the late safety car while Verstappen decided to make an extra stop.

Piastri’s driving style seems to be almost perfectly suited to McLaren’s 2025 F1 car.

His teammate might have been impressed with his telemetry when he was a rookie but will be desperately searching for answers in this season’s data that can help him overcome the current 10-point lead he’s earned in the championship.