Bernie Ecclestone claims McLaren have chosen which driver they want to win the 2025 F1 championship

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McLaren made the headlines for the wrong reasons at the Italian Grand Prix with the latest controversy surrounding their two drivers fighting for the 2025 title.

Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are in a two-way battle for the championship, with the former holding a 34-point lead over his teammate heading into the Italian Grand Prix.

Many expected McLaren to dominate the field at Monza, but Max Verstappen stunned everyone by claiming pole position and dominating the race to win his third Grand Prix of the season. Norris and Piastri finished second and third respectively.

But that result could have been different if not for McLaren’s controversial implementation of team orders. The team pitted Piastri first to protect him from an undercut from Charles Leclerc, with Norris receiving a slow stop a lap later.

This put the Aussie ahead of his teammate after McLaren’s error in the pit box. The Woking outfit instructed Piastri to hand the position back, to which he obliged after initial protest, allowing Norris to trim his lead in the championship to 31 points.

Bernie Ecclestone claims McLaren would prefer Lando Norris to win the 2025 title over Oscar Piastri

Naturally, McLaren caused outrage on social media, with several fans calling the team ’embarrassing’ for their treatment of Piastri. With eight races to go, those three points lost to Norris could be costly in the title fight.

Jolyon Palmer warned McLaren about the issues they could have caused with team orders. Piastri and Norris have been free to race, but many are starting to question if the team are picking favourites when it comes to strategy and commands from the pit wall.

Former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone is among them, and he believes that McLaren would prefer Norris to win the championship over Piastri after favouring him at Monza.

He told Swiss publication Blick: “They keep talking about fairness. But is it fair for Piastri to be penalised for a team mistake? No.

“You’re starting to get the feeling that McLaren prefers a world champion named Lando Norris. Mistakes like missed pit stops, engine failures, and suspension failures may have become less common, but they’re part of the sport.”

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McLaren must address their issues with strategy to prevent drama between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Martin Brundle felt McLaren’s team orders at Monza were ‘fair’ as they were given the freedom to fight after swapping positions. But Piastri was clearly discontent with the decision over the radio, and it could easily happen again in the final eight races.

David Coulthard accused McLaren of ‘manipulating’ the race by telling Piastri to relinquish a position due to circumstances out of his control. Slow stops are part of racing, and, as mentioned earlier, those three points lost could cost him the title.

Andrea Stella says McLaren will review their strategy at Monza, as it was the strategy team that decided to to pit Piastri first. The Woking outfit have reiterated how they work as a team, but the reality is that they find themselves in a battle for the title among their two drivers.

Piastri and Norris want to become a world champion and McLaren want it to be decided in the fairest way possible. The way to do it is to let them fight it out in whatever situation is thrown at them, not from team orders and manipulating race results.