Oscar Piastri\u2019s championship quest has been flagging for several weeks already, but could McLaren\u2019s skid plank blunder in Las Vegas be what seals his role as number two to Lando Norris?<\/p>\n
And through no fault of his own.<\/p>\n
Has Las Vegas sealed Oscar Piastri\u2019s No.2 fate?<\/p>\n
McLaren<\/a> has been resolute through the opening 22 races of this year\u2019s 24-grand prix season that neither Norris or Piastri will be given number one status, not while there\u2019s still a chance that the other could win the title.<\/p>\n McLaren CEO Zak Brown told PlanetF1.com editor Mat Coch<\/a> that he was \u201ccomfortable with that.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got two drivers first and second in the championship and are separated by less than one second place finish, how do you possibly even consider standing one down into a supporting role?<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s just no way we will.\u201d<\/p>\n He said that back in May when Piastri was 13 points clear of Norris, with the teammates having won five of seven grands prix.<\/p>\n Today, the numbers aren\u2019t a whole lot different. Norris leads Piastri by 24 points, but the momentum in the last run of seven races has swung hugely \u2013 and towards Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n The Red Bull driver has won four of the last seven grands prix, while McLaren has just two on the board. They now also have a first non-score for the season on the list after Norris and Piastri were both disqualified in Las Vegas for excessive skid plank wear.<\/p>\n What had initially been a 42-point lead for Norris over Verstappen, with Piastri between them and 12 points to the good ahead of Verstappen, was drastically reduced to 24 and zero.<\/p>\n Shockingly, what once looked to be an almost certain 1-2 for McLaren when Piastri was 104 points ahead of the reigning World Champion after the Dutch Grand Prix and Norris 70 points clear, now looks anything but a sure bet.<\/p>\n Even the championship title is on the line.<\/p>\n McLaren\u2019s fairytale success story of how it overthrew Red Bull in the final year of the ground-effect dynamic era has the potential to transform into a nightmare.<\/p>\n McLaren do still have an advantage, two in fact: Norris is almost a race win clear in the standings, and he has a teammate who could support him.<\/p>\n In a season in which momentum began with Norris before swinging to Piastri and now back to Norris, it\u2019s the Briton who has hit a rich vein of form when it matters most. Outscoring Piastri by 115 points to 57 in the last seven races, Norris has stamped his authority over his teammate.<\/p>\n Lando Norris v Oscar Piastri: McLaren 2025 head-to-head scores<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n