McLaren warned of “extreme difficulty” which could “blow up”

McLaren have been warned that they face a mighty challenge keeping both of their drivers happy with team orders.

Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris for a McLaren 1-2 finish to highlight the team’s superiority at last weekend’s F1 Chinese Grand Prix.

Lando Norris sits top of the drivers’ championship while reigning champions McLaren lead the constructors’ again.

But the team were spared an awkward team order situation in China because Norris was dealing with a brake pedal issue, meaning he could not catch Oscar Piastri anyway.

Piastri’s win allowed him to strike back at Norris, who won the first grand prix of 2025 in Australia, when Piastri spun out in wet conditions.

“I think Oscar was incredibly frustrated with how Melbourne played out, in terms of the rain shower and in terms of being given a team order in the first race of the year,” commentator Alex Jacques told the F1 Nation podcast.

“The only answer when things are so close, when your team appears to have the fastest car, is to turn up and take pole position, then romp off into the distance.

“He wasn’t challenged at any point of that race.

“It was very, very impressive. I see why he is satisfied.

“There wasn’t much of a celebration from him, was there? The reason there wasn’t much of a celebration is because he knows this will be an extreme test of a driver in just his third season. But he has a legitimate shot at winning the world championship.

“Could we have said that at the start of the [Chinese Grand Prix] weekend? He is very quick and is a proven grand prix winner.

“This is a guy who was absolutely mullered in qualifying against Lando Norris last year. 20-4 Norris as the lead car.

“But he took pole and converted it pretty easily. Game on, at the front…”

McLaren No1 driver debate set to rage on

Laura Winter agreed that Piastri’s early victory in China was an important sign to McLaren bosses that Norris must not automatically be prioritised as their No1 driver.

“Hugely,” she said. “Last year in the latter stages, they said outright ‘we are biasing towards Norris’.

“Even at a point when the gap from Lando to Max was only slightly bigger than the gap from Lando to Oscar.

“We are now in a situation where the No1 driver has to announce themselves.

“Zak Brown says they have two No1 drivers, they have two guys that can win. He also admitted it wasn't the worst thing that Lando had to back off, because of a brake pedal issue, because it meant that they didn’t have to issue any team orders. They didn’t have to ensure that Lando and Oscar tangled.

“They got away with what could have been some more spicy radio messages.”

Jacques warned: “It can deny you a world championship. It can blow up like it did between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

“In 2007, Fernando Alonso and Hamilton took points off each other, and Kimi Raikkonen sneaked in.

“The hope of the rest of the grid is that the McLaren drivers take points off each other, and it remains competitive as a result.”

He insisted that McLaren strategists and team bosses will face some very difficult decision-making because of Norris and Piastri’s excellence in their car.

“Extreme difficulty, like every team who has had two great drivers in the past,” Jacques said.

“Zak took on Lando’s career, and helped get him to McLaren, before he was in charge. Oscar has a brilliant management team around him.

“Oscar has clearly taken another step. Lando is rapid. They have got a problem to manage.

“But you don’t sign him up to a massive contract if you expect him to play a second driver role.”

Piastri was signed up a multi-year new contract on the eve of the 2025 season, which the Daily Mail reported gave him parity with Norris’ £20m-per-season terms.

The F1 Japanese Grand Prix is next week and gives McLaren another chance to edge ahead of their competition.