Bernie Ecclestone says Lando Norris winning title over Oscar Piastri would be ‘better for McLaren’

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Lando Norris has taken the lead of the championship over teammate Oscar Piastri, which has fuelled conspiracies about how McLaren are treating their drivers.

The title fight has become a contentious issue for the Woking outfit as they have been keen to let Norris and Piastri battle for the title. Initially, the latter had the upper hand, winning five of the opening nine races.

However, Norris has come back into the picture, beating his teammate in the last five races, taking the lead of the standings by one point with his win in Mexico. Piastri’s loss of confidence in the car and change in mentality are deciding factors, but McLaren’s team orders have also not helped.

The Aussie was instructed to make way for his teammate after the Brit had a slow stop in Monza, and he was left furious after Norris bumped past him in Singapore. Piastri expected ‘payback’ from McLaren over the issue.

But now that Norris’ ‘repercussions’ have been scrapped, in theory, the drivers are equal heading into the final four races of 2025. But with the Brit leading the way, many still believe that he is being favoured over Piastri.

Bernie Ecclestone thinks Lando Norris winning the title would be ‘better for McLaren’ than Oscar Piastri

Former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone felt McLaren are favouring Norris for the championship over Piastri. It is a thought many key figures and fans have, with Norris being booed by Mexican fans over the controversy in Monza.

Speaking to sport.de, Ecclestone felt Piastri would be champion ‘easy’ at the start of the season, but he suspects that McLaren favour his teammate. He believes Norris winning would be ‘better’ for the team.

“When the season started, I thought our Australian driver would be world champion, I thought he’d win easy,” he said.

“But something’s holding him back, I don’t know what it is. I don’t know whether it’s McLaren holding him back or what. And there was a bit of a problem within inside the team, I understand, where it looked like they were very much favouring the British driver.

“Yeah, I think he would fall into the star quality more, I think, from that point of view. He would act better, I think he likes the television, likes the camera, likes whatever, likes to speak to journalists. So, I suppose that’s better for McLaren.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

What has happened to Oscar Piastri as he loses the championship lead?

Damon Hill thinks McLaren are ‘confusing’ their drivers with team orders. It has certainly played on Piastri’s mind as his form begins to drop at the worst time.

Ralf Schumacher told Piastri not to worry about rumours that Norris is being favoured and to focus on himself in the title fight. But he is clearly lacking confidence in the MCL39, while his teammate and rival is starting to flourish.

Johnny Herbert has never seen Norris mentally stronger than he is now. He has adopted a calmness in the paddock, which has translated into consistent qualifying and race results.

With McLaren keen to let their drivers battle it out in the last four races, Norris and Piastri are set to play out a tense fight for the championship. But they also have to watch out for Max Verstappen, who is 36 points adrift heading into Sao Paulo.