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Do McLaren back Piastri or Norris for F1 title? Or let them fight?
Emily Benammar • October 20th, 2025 1:33 pm
There are five races left in the 2025 season and things are getting exceptionally tight at the top.
Oscar Piastri remains the championship leader just 14 points in front of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris and 40 in front of Max Verstappen who drove a faultless race in Austin to reignite his title tilt.
So is it decision time at McLaren?
Will papaya rules remain in place or should they be backing one driver for the title and use the other in a more defensive manner to hold the Red Bulls off?
It’s been a turbulent season at McLaren with both drivers going public with frustrations over team orders and alleged preferential treatment.
A collision between Norris and Piastri in Singapore saw the tensions boil over with the Aussie venting on the radio that he should have been given the place back after his teammate made a gain.
The came the mighty papaya PR machine with both drivers insisting they had made amends ahead of the race in Austin and some form of repercussion had been handed to Norris – though it will not be made public.
So how do McLaren handle the home straight of a season which could see them win the drivers title to go alongside the constructors which is already in the bag?
But which driver gets the nod for the title and who plays the bridesmaid? Or do the duke it out and risk another implosion?
The experts debated it after the race in Austin which saw Norris finish second and Piastri fifth.
Does form trump position?
Sky Sports’ David Croft said: “There might be a time in this Red Bull revival where a McLaren team that says their drivers are free to race, might have to make a decision. ‘We’ve got a championship leader and a challenger, we actually would like to win the drivers championship, and to preserve that, we might need to be a one-driver team here’.”
Karun Chandhok said: “But which one?
Croft: “The one that’s out in front surely.”
Chandhok: “But the one that’s out in front has today finished 22 seconds behind the other car. Recently he’s not scored a few podiums in a few weekend.
Croft: “Do you back the in-form driver or the one with the points in the bag?”
Chandhok: “I think you back neither. You have to let them fight. You back both drivers.”
Croft said: “At the moment, neither driver is capable of stopping the man who’s doing all the winning.”
