McLaren “can’t prioritise” Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri “contract protects him”

Former Formula 1 star Jacques Villeneuve has claimed that McLaren cannot put all its weight behind Lando Norris in the 2025 season because Oscar Piastri’s contract offers him ‘protection’ from such a scenario.

Norris and teammate Piastri have emerged as the early favourites for the 2025 title on the back of McLaren’s impressive start to the new season.

This has led to speculation over whether McLaren could issue team orders and give priority to one driver in order to strengthen its chances of scoring a first title double since 1998.

The Woking-based squad has already established a code of conduct - nicknamed f ‘papaya rules’ - which dictates how its drivers must behave while racing each other on track.

At the season-opening Australian GP, Piastri was asked by McLaren to ‘hold position’ behind race leader Norris, an order that he reluctantly followed.

Now, 1997 F1 champion Villeneuve has weighed in on the situation, saying he expects both drivers to receive equal treatment unless a rival team poses a serious threat to McLaren’s dominance.

Norris and Piastri have won one race apiece so far, although Piastri’s error in a rain-soaked Australian GP has left him fourth in the standings, 10 points behind overall leader Norris.

“All that matters for McLaren is that they have a car right now that is easy to drive for both drivers which means they can control the championship,” Villeneuve told CardPlayer.

“Lando always has issues with the front end, he always uses up his front tyres a little bit too much and China is an understeer track that eats up the front tyres. He was always going to have a little bit more trouble on that track.

“Now, because second or first is a big difference in points, it was important for Lando to go get as many points as possible and keep pushing, because he knows that Piastri in the long run will be a threat to his championship chances and the battle might just be between him and his teammate. That's always the most difficult when your battle is against your teammate.

“They cannot give Lando priority over Oscar because of the contract. He has a contract that protects him.

“As long as both drivers can win the championship, there won’t be team orders unless there's something significantly big for the constructors’ title or if one of them is having an issue in a race like last year.”

McLaren won its first constructors’ title in over two decades last year, but Norris was never really in a position to dethrone Red Bull’s Max Verstappen from the top of the drivers’ standings.

At that time, many critics questioned why McLaren took so long to assist Norris’ bid for the title when the Briton was comfortably clear of Piastri in the standings.

Things could get more complicated for the British squad this year, with Piastri emerging as a more potent title challenger in his third season in F1.

Piastri gave away a bunch of points with a late spin at his home race earlier this month, while Norris managed to keep his car facing the right direction as rain suddenly hit the Albert Park Circuit.

In China, however, it was Piastri who emerged ahead of the two, while Norris finished a distant second after nursing a serious brake issue.

Villeneuve, who remains actively involved in F1 as a pundit, praised the Australian for the way he bounced back from the disappointment of Melbourne.

“Oscar was better under pressure than Lando in China,” he said.

“Lando was quicker the whole weekend, but whenever it counted, he made mistakes in qualifying that put him behind and then because of that, he couldn't race as well.

“Piastri was more of a cool cat. He maximised his weekend. He had a good qualifying, a good start and then as we saw, he did a good job in the lead. Lando was quick but he was behind, and he overheated his brakes.

“Sometimes you don't need to be the quickest, you just need to have a better weekend and not make mistakes and perform better under pressure.”