After winning the constructors’ championship, McLaren is setting its sights on the drivers’ title for the 2025 Formula 1 season. Both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lay claim to the big hit. Doesn’t that bring with it the potential for trouble? An expert says no.
Thanks in part to rigorous agreements, McLaren driver Lando Norris competed for the Drivers’ World Championship for a long time in the past Formula 1 season. In the end, the traditional racing team even secured a place in the constructors’ championship – and thus their first team world championship title since 1998.
But while Norris was the number one title contender at McLaren this year thanks to a high form in the first half of the season, the cards are likely to be reshuffled in the coming season. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri recently made no secret of his title claims. Norris is hoping for a second chance at the World Cup crown. Isn’t that potentially explosive?
For former Formula 1 driver Hans-Joachim “Strietzel” Stuck, the world championship ambitions of the two Papaya drivers do not pose a problem. “In my opinion, there is no potential for conflict,” says the 73-year-old in an interview with “Eurosport.” .
Formula 1: Trouble potential at McLaren? Expert predicts Piastri rise
Stuck gave two reasons why he doesn’t see the team world champion’s harmony in danger. “McLaren has the boys completely under control,” believes “Striezel”: “Piastri and Norris get along well together, as we’ve already seen on the track this season. That’s the perfect basis for the future and a stroke of luck for him Racing team.”
Stuck identified cohesion as the Papayas’ big secret to success in the past season. “McLaren has proven what you can achieve with good team leadership and sensible development in Formula 1,” emphasized the 74-time Grand Prix starter.
The steep rise of Oscar Piastri in his second year in Formula 1 has not gone unnoticed by Stuck. “A really big guy is growing up,” believes the German racing legend: “Piastri just has it and knows how to behave in this world.”
If McLaren continues like this, “Piastri will not only be a contender for a world title in the future, but will also one day become one of the greats of Formula 1,” Stuck is certain.