Oscar Piastri told Zak Brown was right all along about how his 2025 F1 season would pan out at McLaren

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Oscar Piastri is fighting to regain the championship lead in 2025 after Lando Norris dethroned him at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The Aussie has hit a slump in form at the worst possible time. He looked clear of Norris after winning at Zandvoort, but he has finished on the podium once since then.

Norris has beaten Piastri in the last five races, claiming a dominant win and the lead of the championship at the Mexico City Grand Prix. While the gap is only one point, the former has the momentum, while the latter is starting to struggle.

Piastri did not act like a world champion, according to Robert Doornbos, as he felt the McLaren star was too conservative during the race. He finished 42 seconds behind Norris as he settled for fifth behind Oliver Bearman.

While the 24-year-old is struggling to find the right balance with the MCL39, he has expressed frustrations over team orders at McLaren. Norris was favoured in Monza after a slow pit stop, while there was no intervention after the two bumped wheels in Singapore.

Christian Danner says Zak Brown was right all along about 2025 – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are equal

Piastri expected ‘payback’ from McLaren after Singapore, as he felt Norris deliberately hit him to make the corner after colliding with Max Verstappen. Since then, Norris’ ‘repercussions’ have been scrapped, effectively putting the duo on equal terms.

McLaren will allow Norris and Piastri to fight for the title in the final four races. As Christian Danner notes, this is exactly how Zak Brown intended the 2025 battle to go.

He said via Motorsport-Magazin: “As I said, personally, I don’t care at all about my sympathy for one or the other. For McLaren, of course, on the one hand, you think: ‘Oh God, now they have a huge problem, what are they going to do?’

“On the other hand, of course, that speaks in favour of the Papaya Rules, because now they’re both on the same level. Yes, then let’s just let both of them go. It’ll work itself out somehow.

“The question is, of course, as before, I wouldn’t ignore Verstappen, he’s still there. He’s hanging on the rock face, even if he’s only hanging on with one finger, but you can still get up faster when things start going better again.

“And that’s why, I think one point is no reason to give a team order, but the days when I said you had to choose Piastri are long gone. Now things are going exactly as Zak Brown imagined, namely that both are equal. They should see who is faster.”

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McLaren could breach Oscar Piastri’s contract if they favour Lando Norris

While it is said that the two drivers are equal, many in the paddock believe that McLaren are favouring Norris over Piastri. There is the argument that this is the case when looking at the events of Monza and Singapore.

The Woking outfit say they will not implement team orders while the pair are in contention for the title. Juan Pablo Montoya says Norris has a clause that prevents him from being a number two driver – Piastri is said to be on equal terms as the team say they do not have a number one driver.

Subsequently, McLaren could breach Piastri’s contract if they favour Norris. With four races to go and one point separating them, implementing team orders at this stage could be catastrophic for relationships.

Martin Brundle says Piastri has McLaren’s full support when answering rumours about Norris being prioritised. That will be put to the test as he battles with his teammate for the 2025 title.