![\"Piastri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/XPB_1386448_HiRes.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri has downplayed a supposed social media repost by him highlighting McLaren favouritsm towards Lando Norris. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri has downplayed a supposed social media repost by him highlighting McLaren favouritsm towards Lando Norris. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
The Australian was surprised to learn on Saturday morning that a graphic quoting Bernie Ecclestone \u2014 in which the former F1 boss claimed \u201cMcLaren prefers the English driver Norris\u201d because of his \u201cstar quality\u201d and \u201ccamera presence\u201d \u2014 had been shared to his Instagram story in the early hours before being quickly deleted.<\/p>\n
The post spread rapidly among fans and reignited online debate about perceived favouritism inside the team.<\/p>\n
Piastri said he had no explanation for how the repost occurred.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he told RacingNews365 when asked about the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke up this morning and saw it, so I don\u2019t know, maybe I accidentally did it.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously, it was not intentional. But yeah, I didn\u2019t know what had happened. So I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The original quote from Ecclestone had been circulating since early November<\/a>, but Piastri\u2019s unexpected reshare \u2014 intentional or not \u2014 arrived at a tense point in the season as the pair fight for the 2025 championship.<\/p>\n His recent form has drawn scrutiny as well, with the 24-year-old being outscored by Norris over the past several rounds.<\/p>\n The sudden flashpoint comes despite McLaren strongly dismissing suggestions of internal bias and despite Piastri and Norris repeatedly insisting their working relationship has remained stable throughout their title battle.<\/p>\n Speaking ahead of the Las Vegas weekend, Norris said the lack of recent light-hearted social-media clips had nothing to do with tensions between them.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the reason you see less videos is because we ask to do less,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re racing drivers, we want to come and drive, not make videos for social media.\u201d<\/p>\n Norris stressed that the pair remain close within the team environment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both have a lot of respect for each other and we understand the position that we\u2019re in,\u201d he said, adding that outside the car \u201cwe can still have a joke, have laughs in our debriefs and we still enjoy everything away from the track.\u201d<\/p>\n He rejected any suggestion their title fight had strained the dynamic.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of relationship, we get along well, work together well and I think it\u2019s still better than it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren begin Saturday\u2019s race in Las Vegas with Norris starting from pole<\/a> and Piastri lining up fifth<\/a>, with both drivers insisting the focus remains firmly on delivering the strongest possible result for the team.<\/p>\n
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