David Coulthard warns McLaren of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ‘bust-up’ after Monza team orders

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David Coulthard has sent a warning to McLaren about how the championship battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri could play out over the final eight races of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Oscar Piastri currently leads the drivers’ championship by 31 points ahead of Lando Norris.

Norris put a small dent in his McLaren teammate’s lead at the Italian Grand Prix, but not without some controversy.

Piastri had to give up second place at Monza to Norris after the British driver allowed his teammate to pit first, only to suffer a very slow stop and get undercut by the Australian.

Martin Brundle thought Piastri did the right thing, but it triggered a mixed reception in the paddock.

The 24-year-old will hope that he doesn’t lose the championship by less than six points; otherwise, he might point to McLaren forcing him to give up a position that initially, on the team radio, he didn’t believe fell under their ‘papaya rules’.

Teammates have gone toe-to-toe before in the drivers’ championship, with Toto Wolff comparing McLaren’s drivers to Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Former McLaren driver David Coulthard has now warned McLaren what could happen between Norris and Piastri before the end of the season that will give team principal Andrea Stella nightmares.

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

David Coulthard says Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ‘bust-up’ is ‘inevitable’

Coulthard was speaking to The Herald about the top two drivers in the standings this year, and he explained: “McLaren currently has two brilliant drivers, and one of them is going to be the world champion at the end of this season.

“The team is trying to keep everything on an even keel, but there will, like we saw in Canada, be incidents of the drivers crashing together, and there will be moments of tension that will be very difficult to manage because it really matters which one of these two guys wins.

“So McLaren is trying to delay the inevitable, and they will have a strategy for what to do when the inevitable bust-up happens. If these guys remain close in the standings as we get closer to someone being crowned world champion, it will be very difficult to manage.

“So many different things happen behind the scenes in F1, and that was the same in my career.

“Winning or losing is everything to you at the time, so Mika and I can now laugh about everything that went on, but at the time, we were definitely not laughing.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Jolyon Palmer praises Lando Norris for Monza radio message before Oscar Piastri undercut

Norris and Piastri will both be looking for every advantage over the next eight races to try and win their first championship.

Gabriel Bortoleto thinks Norris’ schedule away from racing is ‘crazy’, which might be something the British driver looks to cut down on between now and Abu Dhabi.

Before Piastri’s pit stop, Norris was keen to confirm with his race engineer that Piastri wouldn’t undercut him.

Jolyon Palmer thinks that Norris’ radio message was essential in not giving Piastri an opportunity to argue that he should be allowed to hold onto second.

The next race in Azerbaijan will provide Piastri with happy memories after his victory in Baku last season.

It would be a real statement of intent if Norris could further cut his lead in the championship and see if he can start to put the unflappable Australian under pressure.