The duel between McLaren rivals Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for the 2025 Formula 1 crown is simmering – and could boil over at the US Grand Prix this weekend. A look into the past shows: Hardly any other track is as good a place for tough motorsport duels as the race track in Austin/Texas.
By this rainy Grand Prix Sunday in Austin, October 25, 2015, the antipathy between Mercedes rivals and former karting buddies Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg turned into sheer contempt.
In the “warm-up room” on the way to the winner’s podium, triumphant Hamilton viciously coolly threw the Pirelli cap for the upcoming ceremony to second-placed Rosberg. The Brit had just bagged his third title early and increased his lead to 2-0 in the World Cup duel with Rosberg. There, you loser, signaled the humiliating gesture – Rosberg was seething with anger.
Pissed off, the defeated man threw his cap back. Zero point of the toxic relationship that finally escalated the following year and caused Silver Arrow carbon to burst in Barcelona.
Ten years after the Käppi scandal, a stable duel for the Formula 1 crown is once again approaching the boiling point. Oscar Piastri comes to the US GP in Austin with a 22 point lead over his McLaren colleague Lando Norris. So far, the Papaya neighbors have actually maintained a relaxed, professional relationship. But that could be the end of it for good in Texas.
Formula 1: Piastri raged after Norris attack
Norris, that’s how it was expressed RTL-Expert Christian Danner in the “AvD-Talk” of the “Motorsport-Magazin” said he was “brimmed with a riot”. In Singapore, the Brit had his claws out after the start and roughly rumbled past Piastri into third place.
Piastri was furious at his stablemate’s “shitty action” and didn’t hide his anger on the radio.
The scene is symbolic: the gloves have been taken off in the escalating World Cup fight. Papaya Rules or not – now that McLaren has the manufacturer’s crown in its pocket, every driver only thinks about themselves.
Will there be another crash in Austin? Quite possible. Hardly any other course is as predestined for carbon contact as the Circuit of the Americas. Right from the start, curve 1 invites you to poke into supposedly promising gaps.
Video: Expert: US GP made for the next McLaren crash
- Evidence example 1, 2015: On a greasy track, Hamilton gets up to speed better from second position than pole-setter Rosberg, squeezes himself on the inside next to his silver enemy on the short uphill sprint to turn 1, pushing the German off the track. Rosberg falls back to fifth place, Hamilton goes on to win the World Cup.
- Evidence example 2, 2024: Although he started from the “dirtier” side of P2, Verstappen also holds his own on the inside against pole man Norris and can just keep his Red Bull within the track limits, while the McLaren has to try for the run-off zone. Charles Leclerc, who only started in fourth place, took advantage of the skirmish in the Ferrari and slipped past the brawlers. The Monegasse later also wins the race.
After the Yawning GP in Singapore: USA race promises an overtaking spectacle
The scenes show: The anti-clockwise route designed by architect Pope Hermann Tilke offers opportunities – twice this weekend, as there is also a sprint on the program on Saturday. Norris will bite (again), as will Piastri. And Max Verstappen, who is not yet completely left behind in the World Cup and is just lurking on a stink, anyway.
In Texas the clocks tick differently than recently in Singapore, where overtaking was hardly possible even with DRS support. And turn 1 after the start is by no means the only maneuver corner. The hairpin after the long back straight, turn 11, also invites attacks.
Last year, Norris and Verstappen got into each other a second time in the left bend. The faster McLaren driver tried to get past the Dutchman on the outside, who was closing in on the inside. Verstappen got on the irons so late that he missed the apex of the corner and slid over the curbs with all four wheels.
Things were hairy in Austin last year too
There was no space for Norris – which is why the Englishman opened his steering, used the generous run-off zone and with momentum overtook Verstappen, who was accelerating sluggishly. Norris’ joy didn’t last long. The race stewards gave the McLaren man a five-second penalty.
“Leaving the track and gaining an advantage” – Leave the track and gain an advantage, was the verdict of the FIA judges. Norris was furious and complained that he couldn’t have done anything other than avoid it.
Hairy wheel-to-wheel duels that have the potential to end up on the stewards’ table and possibly controversial judges’ decisions: There’s spice in Austin, the US GP comes at exactly the right time in the Piastri vs. Norris duel from a fan’s perspective.
After the track-specific outliers (downwards) in the full-throttle temple of Monza as well as the Baku and Singapore street circuits, McLaren should be ahead again on the “regular” Austin GP circuit. The Piastri, who is looking for revenge against the attacking riot Norris – the assumption is that someone in Texas will get hit.