Lando Norris faces a critical moment in his bid to claim the Formula 1 World Championship, but his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri has made it clear he won’t compromise his own chances to aid Norris’s title pursuit.
Heading into the final two rounds of the season, starting with this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, Norris leads both Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 24 points, with 58 points still available. Despite this advantage, the championship fight remains intense.
Verstappen, who seemed out of the running after trailing by 104 points, surged back with a victory in Las Vegas—his fourth in eight post-summer-break races—while Norris was disqualified for a minor technical infringement. This reshuffled the title landscape dramatically, keeping Verstappen firmly in contention.
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Piastri, also disqualified in Las Vegas, has struggled to match Norris’s pace recently, finishing behind him since the Dutch Grand Prix in late August. When questioned about possibly supporting Norris’s championship aspirations, the Australian responded candidly: “We’ve had a very brief discussion on it and the answer is ‘no.’ I’m still equal on points with Max and I’ve got a decent shot of still winning it if things go my way, and that’s how we’ll play it.”
Before Las Vegas, Norris held a 30-point lead over Piastri and was 42 points ahead of Verstappen. However, his disqualification due to a minimal skid block violation (just 0.12mm over the limit) altered the championship dynamics.
Nevertheless, Norris remains on track to clinch the title with one race to spare. If he finishes the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, which includes a sprint race, ahead of both Verstappen and Piastri by at least two points, he will secure the championship before the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
“We’ve treated Max as a threat all year, even when he was further behind in the championship,” Norris said. “Every briefing before every race, we treated him as a threat because we know what Max and Red Bull are capable of. We expect Red Bull to be quick here and next weekend, too. Nothing needs to change from anyone’s side.”
Reflecting on his disqualification in Las Vegas, Norris added, “Of course, it hurt because there is a lot of effort that goes into a weekend, and it made all that effort disappear very quickly. Everyone at McLaren feels let down, and we are disappointed, but I found it easy to move on.”
Despite the internal rivalry, the title fight promises an intense climax as the season nears its conclusion.