McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are locked in a fight for the F1 2025 world championship with the team steadfastly refusing to favour either one of them as Max Verstappen poses a rising threat.<\/p>\n
But have you ever stopped to consider what the value of winning the drivers\u2019 title is to a Formula 1 team? Put aside the champagne and the personal joy and satisfaction; what is it actually worth? What does it mean? The answer will probably surprise you.<\/p>\n
Does McLaren really care who wins the world championship?<\/p>\n
Norris and Piastri are locked in battle for this year\u2019s title, split by just a single point with four races (and two sprints) remaining.<\/p>\n
McLaren\u2019s dynamic duo enjoyed a dominant position at the start of the year, helping their employer claim a second successive constructors\u2019 championship.<\/p>\n
But as Norris flashed across the line to finish third in Singapore, sealing McLaren the crown, it was already abundantly clear that the team\u2019s early-season advantage had evaporated.<\/p>\n
George Russell won the race for Mercedes and Verstappen in second was emerging as an ever more serious threat in the drivers\u2019 title chase.<\/p>\n
And as the Flying Dutchman moves inexorably closer to the top of the points standings, McLaren insists on treating its drivers fairly, without prejudice, preference or priority.<\/p>\n
Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: McLaren head-to-head scores for F1 2025<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n Norris and Piastri would stand a better chance of the title if the team focused its efforts on one of them; by allowing them to compete, they\u2019re potentially stealing points off one another.<\/p>\n From a team\u2019s perspective, that doesn\u2019t overly matter \u2013 a one-two finish counts the same no matter which order they cross the line.<\/p>\n But why, with a world championship title on the line, hasn\u2019t McLaren made the tough call?<\/p>\n Is it a lack of assertiveness from Andrea Stella and Zak Brown, a contractual constraint or something else?<\/p>\n It\u2019s fair to suggest that Brown and co are prepared and capable of making the tough decision.<\/p>\n When Daniel Ricciardo wasn\u2019t working out, the team was not shy in pulling the plug. It was a bold, brave move, a clear decision that in many respects ended Ricciardo\u2019s career.<\/p>\n We can therefore reasonably suggest that there\u2019s no absence of \u2018sisu\u2019 \u2013 to borrow a phrase from Mika Hakkinen \u2013 within McLaren\u2019s senior leadership.<\/p>\n It\u2019s possible there is a contractual requirement for equality, though on that we can only speculate given that those details have not been forthcoming.<\/p>\n Evidence does suggest there is such a clause, given the efforts the team has made in its quest for equality, but there have also been moments that point against that, too.<\/p>\n Reversing the order on track in the latter stages of the Italian Grand Prix immediately springs to mind.<\/p>\n So while possible that there\u2019s a contractual obligation for equality, it seems unlikely to extend to specific on track decisions, if it exists at all.<\/p>\n So while we can\u2019t entirely dismiss that as a possibility, I personally need more convincing.<\/p>\n Another point against such a notion is the at least perceived bias towards Norris, but again\u00a0that\u2019s not something I \u2013 as an Australian \u2013 can take seriously.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a concept that undermines the team\u2019s efforts all season.<\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s possible to cherry pick examples where\u00a0Norris has been favoured and Piastri compromised to help the Brit.<\/p>\n Because hey, McLaren is British and there is a perception of a nationalistic bias within the sport (hello, Sky Sports).<\/p>\n And while yes, McLaren as an organisation is British, its CEO is American and team principal Italian.<\/p>\n The supporting technical team consists of staff who\u2019ve won world championships with other teams and with non-British drivers.<\/p>\n There is no clear reason why McLaren would favour Norris based purely on nationality.<\/p>\n Of course, he was a junior with the team and chose to stick it out with McLaren despite potentially race-winning opportunities arising for him elsewhere.<\/p>\n He\u2019s McLaren through and through and the team has invested heavily in him. Logically then, since he\u2019s a product of McLaren\u2019s own development programme, there\u2019s a predisposition to him, right?<\/p>\n Only that argument fails to take into account the leap of faith the team took in hiring Piastri.<\/p>\n When Ricciardo was struggling in 2022, and with a year left on his contract, Brown made a monumental call.<\/p>\n By axing Ricciardo not only was he jettisoning the team\u2019s most recent race winner (to that point), but paid a significant sum to do so.<\/p>\n It was suggested to me that the figure was in the $20million bracket, a sum that hasn\u2019t been refuted when put to the team.<\/p>\n Put it another way: McLaren paid $20million to bring in Piastri for 2023.<\/p>\n Even to a Formula 1 team, that is a huge chunk of change, far more than the squad would have invested in Norris ahead of his arrival in F1.<\/p>\n Surely, the Australian wasn\u2019t brought in to be a second fiddle, to support Norris? At that figure, he was hired to do one thing: deliver race wins and world championships.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s one other point worth considering, and bear with me because it\u2019s controversial.<\/p>\n Does McLaren actually want to win the drivers\u2019 title? Does it actually care?<\/p>\n To bring things back full circle, what does McLaren actually gain should Norris or Piastri emerge victorious at the end of the season?<\/p>\n In Formula 1, the constructors\u2019 championship is a far less glamorous competition but a far more significant one because it\u2019s that which determines a team\u2019s prize money entitlements.<\/p>\n All of F1\u2019s riches are attached to the teams\u2019 standings, not the drivers\u2019 crown.<\/p>\n The cold, hard facts of the matter are that the drivers\u2019 championship comes with a cost associated with it \u2013 potentially a significant one.<\/p>\n While, yes, there are bonuses that are paid out if a team wins the constructors\u2019, that is offset by the revenue that comes as a result of that accomplishment.<\/p>\n There are likely escalators and other bonuses built into sponsorship deals too which reward the team for its full year result.<\/p>\n But for the drivers, should they win the title, it is likely there is no additional income (a team directly linking its financials to the fate of an individual driver is a dangerous game).<\/p>\n Sure, there\u2019s some television time and notoriety that will no doubt please the sponsors, but there is no $100million windfall for the team as reward for having the world champion among its ranks.<\/p>\n Indeed, winning the title likely comes with a healthy performance bonus for the driver, costing the team money.<\/p>\n We can glean some idea of the figures here courtesy of Felipe Massa\u2019s current court proceedings, in which he\u2019s seeking $82million in damages arguing lost bonuses, commercial opportunities, among others.<\/p>\n Within documents he\u2019s filed it was claimed there as a $3.5million bonus available had he won the title. Adjusted to today\u2019s money, that\u2019s in region of $5.3million.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the non-tangibles such as negotiating power moving forward \u2013 a world champion can command a higher base salary.<\/p>\n A world championship win is like the old saying: a dog is for life, not just Christmas.<\/p>\n So boiling it down to a simple matter of economics, there is no motivation from the teams to win the drivers\u2019 title like there is the constructors\u2019 \u2013 one could even argue they\u2019re disincentivised, though that\u2019s probably an overstatement.<\/p>\n And if you struggle to buy that concept, look at Williams.<\/p>\n It has won seven drivers\u2019 titles in its history, never with the same driver twice, and has only retained the world champion on three of those occasions.<\/p>\n Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Damon Hill were all treated like light bulbs, removed and replaced after their title-winning campaign with the Grove squad.<\/p>\n Of course, no team in its right mind would reject the chance to win the title, but it does explain why McLaren is willing to take greater risk with the drivers\u2019 quest than with the constructors\u2019 \u2013 it stands to lose comparatively little in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n So, what is the value of a world champion driver within a world champion team? And is it worth disrupting the harmony that exists within the organisation to pursue it?<\/p>\n More on McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49 Lando Norris news<\/a><\/p>\n