McLaren insiders reveal how they want the 2025 F1 title to be decided between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

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The 2025 F1 drivers’ championship looks like it will surely be heading to McLaren at the end of the season, but the question of which driver it will be going home with is yet to be answered.

Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, moving 16 points clear of the British driver.

Nico Rosberg is certain that the championship will be Piastri’s at the final chequered flag of the season, noting his very impressive ‘body language’ which is currently exuding confidence.

One thing that Norris does have over his McLaren counterpart is the experience of fighting for a title in F1. The Brit went toe to toe with Max Verstappen in 2024, but eventually lost out to the Dutchman.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has already had his say on who he wants to win out of Norris and Piastri, delivering a ‘may the best man win’ verdict when prompted.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

McLaren want Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to decide the 2025 F1 title ‘on merit’

Speaking on ESPN’s Unlapped podcast, journalist Nate Saunders noted a conversation he had with McLaren personnel regarding what the current sentiment inside the team is on who they are favouring.

“McLaren is very conscious of the fact that a lot of people have started to realise that at some point this year, they’re going to be celebrating one of their drivers winning the drivers’ championship,” Saunders said. “And the other one is going to be stood there having been beaten to that championship.

“So what this person said was, all I want is at the end of that for all of us to know in our heart of hearts that we gave them the best chance to win equally and that one of them beat the other on merit.

“It wasn’t that we stepped in and said, right, you guys can’t race now. If they do collide on track, that’s on them. That’s something that happens if one of them massively drops off, and I think you can see that in the way McLaren is operating.

“I think they’re able to do that in the safety of knowing the constructors’ [championship] is probably theirs again this year as well, barring some insane turnaround after the summer break.”

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

McLaren aren’t currently favouring either of their drivers in the 2025 F1 title fight

McLaren’s position on letting Norris and Piastri fight it out between themselves for the championship is great to see from a neutral perspective, but it can throw a spanner in the works when looking at it with a view on the constructors’ championship.

The team’s dominance in this area of the season means that they can put more trust in the drivers’ instincts rather than dictating to them what they have to do on track.

Alex Albon believes the tension inside McLaren is building as the season progresses, but notes that the team’s leadership will prevent the fight from becoming too toxic in the long run.

Piastri has previously stated that he finds the battle against Norris ‘easier’ than one against Verstappen due to the fact that he has access to all of his teammates’ telemetry data as well as set-up preferences.