McLaren concern raised as Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri rivalry could become “more personal”

Sky Sports F1 commentator Anthony Davidson expects the rivalry between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to intensify, with McLaren expected to be the team to beat heading into the new season.

McLaren impressed during the three days of F1 pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit at the end of February.

Lando Norris’ race simulation on day two of the test caught the attention of the paddock.

Norris was around 0.6s quicker than Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli on the second day of testing during the race runs, suggesting McLaren are the heavy favourites going into Melbourne.

McLaren are also the reigning F1 constructors’ champions, having pipped Ferrari to the title.

With that championship in the bag, both drivers fancy their chances of becoming

McLaren’s first drivers’ champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Davidson thinks that “a few more moments” will arise for McLaren to deal with as Norris and Piastri battle it out on track, potentially for the title.

“I love this driver line-up. It’s young, it’s fresh and with that brings committed, spirited driving,” he wrote on the Sky Sports F1 website.

“It often brings a few downsides, like we saw last year, a few sticky moments between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. But the team have just about got on top of that now. You could see the surprise in quite a young team last year. It’s a problem but a nice problem to have.

“Naturally great drivers arrive at a great team and I think this year you could be seeing a few more moments arise where, if they are in the most competitive car and there’s a bit of a gap between them and others, we know that they run each other hard and it suddenly becomes much more personal in that intra-team battle between the drivers. That’s definitely one to watch.”

Lando Norris will 'come of age' in 2025

Norris was Verstappen’s closest challenger in 2024, finishing runner-up in the final standings.

However, the McLaren driver was left to rue a number of missed opportunities and mistakes.

Davidson feels that Norris is now “coming into the peak” of his F1 career and is his tip to take the title.

“When push comes to shove Piastri has this in-built, steely confidence,” he added. “Lando it seems has to convince himself a bit more but is an exceptional driver and is coming into the peak of where he will get to as a racing driver and he's my tip to become world champion this year.

“This will be the year Lando comes of age and is the driver to beat.”