Juan Pablo Montoya sees a ‘favourite’ driver at McLaren between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Follow us on Google Discover

McLaren now find themselves in the eye of a storm over how the team handled Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri crashing at the start of the 2025 F1 Singapore Grand Prix.

The papaya pals traded paint on the streets of Marina Bay last Sunday when Norris overtook Piastri for P3 in the Singapore GP. It proved to be a decisive incident, as the former also went on to finish the race in third to take three points out of his teammate’s lead in their title fight.

Piastri now leads Norris atop the F1 drivers’ championship by 22 points, with six Grands Prix and three F1 Sprints remaining. The Singapore GP also marked the third race in a row where Norris trimmed Piastri’s championship lead, which was 24 points after the Dutch Grand Prix.

But how McLaren managed the fallout of Norris crashing into Piastri in the Singapore GP left a storm over Woking. The Briton banged wheels with the Australian at Turn 3, having had to turn out after hitting the rear of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull trying to get into the corner first.

Juan Pablo Montoya thinks Lando Norris is McLaren’s ‘favourite’ driver over Oscar Piastri

Piastri felt Norris should have yielded P3 in the Singapore GP back to him, having felt his 25-year-old teammate had been overly aggressive. McLaren told the 24-year-old that the team would review the crash, but decided against interfering and would later run another review.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

The Woking natives left themselves exposed to requests like Piastri’s in Singapore after their team orders in the Italian Grand Prix. McLaren told Piastri to yield P2 to Norris at Monza, as he undercut his teammate owing to a quicker pit stop. The team had guaranteed Norris that he would stay in front if he let Piastri pit first to cover the threat of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

But McLaren not returning the favour in the Singapore GP has sparked suggestions that the papaya crew favour Norris over Piastri. And Juan Pablo Montoya believes it is “normal” that McLaren would lean more towards Norris, as he has been with the team longer than Piastri.

Montoya told AS: “A little bit, yes. A little bit. We have to understand that in every team, there is always a favourite, even if they are all equal. That’s normal.

“It’s the one with the most history, the one who has been in the team the longest, the one who has done everything, [and that is] Lando.

“Oscar is doing a spectacular job and everything, but the one with the history and who has been more a part of McLaren is Lando.”

Juan Pablo Montoya expects Mark Webber to pressure McLaren to support Oscar Piastri

Norris made his debut with McLaren in the 2019 F1 season and has regularly rebuffed offers from elsewhere to stay, while Piastri made his debut with the Woking natives in 2023. Norris also played a pivotal role in McLaren’s resurgence to claim back-to-back constructors’ titles.

The Briton has also been on the right side of McLaren’s team orders more often than Piastri has so far in the 2025 season. McLaren ordered Piastri to hold position behind Norris in the Australian GP, as they wanted to avoid their drivers colliding while lapping traffic in the rain.

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

When Piastri asked McLaren to swap his and Norris’ positions for the lead at Silverstone in July’s British Grand Prix, having lost the lead due to a 10-second penalty for a controversial safety car restart infringement, the papaya crew also chose against interfering in the result.

So, as McLaren also did not intervene in the Singapore GP, Montoya would not be surprised to see Piastri’s manager, Mark Webber, put pressure on the team to give the Australian and Norris fair treatment. Webber knows what it is like being the No2 from his days at Red Bull.

Montoya added: “So, Oscar, whether he likes it or not, that exists. And I know that Mark Webber has had some personal experiences that I think have influenced his reasoning a little, and it’s understandable.

“It’s understandable to put pressure on him [and say], ‘Look, I have a superstar and they have to look after him, just as they promised me’.”