Ousted McLaren F1 driver told it must be ‘tough’ watching Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s 2025 title fight

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Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are engaged in a tense battle for the 2025 Formula 1 title, with McLaren set to win their first drivers’ championship since 2008.

Piastri agrees with Max Verstappen in that the Dutchman is out of the running for the title. The Red Bull driver is 97 points behind the Aussie with 10 races to go.

It leaves 2025 as a two-horse race between Piastri and Norris, with the former having just a nine-point lead. The latter has closed the gap in recent races, with three wins from the last four Grands Prix.

David Coulthard has noticed ‘little signs’ of tension between the McLaren duo as they are determined to win the Woking outfit their first drivers’ title in 17 years. The pair have made it clear that they intend to battle until the end, with McLaren allowing Norris and Piastri to ‘tear each other apart’.

McLaren have dominated the 2025 season with 11 wins out of a possible 14. It has been an incredible rise up the ranks in recent months, having struggled at the back of the grid for years.

The team suffered horribly shortly after Lewis Hamilton left for Mercedes, with McLaren becoming stuck at the back of the grid in the mid-2010s. Seeing where the Woking squad are now, James Hinchcliffe reckons the title fight will be ‘tough’ for two former drivers to watch.

Daniel Ricciardo told it will be ‘tough’ watching Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s title fight after his McLaren struggles

Speaking via The Red Flags Podcast, Hinchcliffe talked about how Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo would have performed better at McLaren had they had today’s car. Equally, he expressed how fortunate Piastri was with how he escaped Alpine, as they sit bottom of the standings.

“Yeah man, I mean, he [Sainz] kind of got done dirty. It’s a tough thing to think about, right?” said Hinchcliffe.

“He could be fighting Lando for a title. If Daniel Ric could’ve survived one more year, maybe in a good car, he came back to previous form.

“I look at it the other way. I look at what if Oscar hadn’t gotten out of his Alpine deal. Could you imagine that? Because you’re imagined a scenario where a guy who’s not having success, like: ‘Ah, that could have been me’.

“How about the guy who’s actually raking it in, looking at Gasly being like: ‘Oh man! That was nearly me!’

“Thank god those guys didn’t know how to fill out a document in the contract review board, or whatever stupid technicality it was.”

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

Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren careers compared

Sainz and Ricciardo had similar stints at McLaren, with both spending two years in Woking. The former joined the team in 2019 after leaving Renault.

McLaren were slowly building their way back up the grid and into the midfield at the time. Sainz claimed two podiums for the team, almost winning at Monza in 2020, before leaving for Ferrari in 2021 after finishing sixth in the standings both seasons at Woking.

Ricciardo replaced Sainz after, ironically, leaving Renault. The Aussie grabbed a win at Monza in 2021 – McLaren’s first win since the Sao Paulo GP in 2012 – but he desperately struggled to get to grips with the machinery.

McLaren spotted a ‘mental’ issue with Ricciardo before he was let go in 2022. Ultimately, he never recovered after his disappointing spell in Woking as he bowed out of F1 in 2024 with Racing Bulls.

Norris feels Piastri is ‘better’ than Sainz and Ricciardo as a teammate as he gives him a much harder time. Had they still been at the team, the ex-McLaren drivers could well have been fighting for the championship alongside the Brit today.