McLaren are 299 points ahead of their closest competitor, Red Bull, so the constructors\u2019 championship is all but wrapped up (unless team Papaya implodes between now and December). Still, for the first time in three years, the drivers\u2019 championship could come down to the final race of the year \u2013 Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n
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Race winner Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the F1 Grand Prix in Hungary.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
State of play<\/p>\n
McLaren\u2019s conundrum is one every team would like to have: the best car with two drivers who consistently stand on the podium.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a complication, nonetheless, because team principal Zak Brown has a choice in front of him: does the team back Norris, the driver who\u2019s been with McLaren for six years? Or Piastri, who joined in 2024 but has outperformed his teammate so far.<\/p>\n
Brown and McLaren have been reluctant to choose a favourite child. Instead, they\u2019ve implemented what they call \u2018Papaya rules\u2019, a team strategy that allows the two drivers to race each other, and which is reviewed and discussed after qualifying on Saturday ahead of Sunday\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
It sounds simple, but it\u2019s difficult to respect the rules when you\u2019re in the heat of battle.<\/p>\n
The last time the title fight was this close between teammates was when Mercedes\u2019 duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton battled for the 2016 championship. Once childhood friends during kart racing, the pair fell out into fierce rivalry, leading to frequent clashes and crashes on track. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff threatened suspension for any driver who caused a future collision.<\/p>\n
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Former Mercedes teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton during the 2016 Formula 1 season.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
McLaren has so far avoided any major unpleasantries, excluding Piastri and Norris\u2019 run-in at the Canadian Grand Prix<\/a>, but the two are on a collision course, and as the season finale in Abu Dhabi draws closer, it feels inevitable tensions will start to boil over.<\/p>\n Brown conceded as much when talking to reporters at the Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of the mid-season break.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s competitiveness brewing. As the championship builds, I\u2019m sure that tension will grow,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re fully anticipating them swapping paint again at some point. I\u2019m very confident it won\u2019t be deliberate, which is where you then get into the problems. They will have racing incidents. Here at McLaren, we know that, and they know that, so we\u2019re not afraid of that.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m positive they\u2019re never going to run each other off the track, and that\u2019s where you get into bad blood. So they\u2019re free to race … there are rules around our racing, which is respect your teammate. They know that.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren boss Zak Brown with drivers Lando Norris (left) and Oscar Piastri.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n From a spin-out at his home race in March to championship leader, Piastri\u2019s season has come a long way since the season began in Melbourne.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s the progress and consistency since March that has many, including himself, believing he could be world champion in 2025.<\/p>\n Champagne, spin-outs and podiums: The highs and lows of Piastri\u2019s season so far<\/p>\n For nearly 44 laps of the Australian Grand Prix, it looked like Piastri was going to become the first Australian to nab a podium finish at Albert Park.<\/p>\n He\u2019d navigated multiple crashes, retirements and safety cars and was hunting his teammate for the lead. But near the end of lap 44, both McLaren cars slid off a wet track, and while Norris was able to recover, Piastri was on the grass<\/a>.<\/p>\n He later said he \u201ctried to push a bit too much\u201d, and by the time he got the car back on the track, he\u2019d dropped to 16th.<\/p>\n While the opening race of 2025 is one Piastri would rather forget, it remains a significant moment in his career, and the Australian fought his way back to finish ninth, overtaking Hamilton on the last lap.<\/p>\n Miami Grand Prix<\/p>\n Four-time world champion Verstappen is a robust defender of track position and a sensational wheel-to-wheel racer. Overtaking the Dutchman requires the perfect moment and the perfect move, and that\u2019s what Piastri did in Florida.<\/a><\/p>\n On the opening lap, Norris attempted to overtake the pole-sitting Verstappen for the lead, but the Red Bull champion got his elbows out and defended, forcing the McLaren down to sixth place.<\/p>\n Piastri, who qualified fourth, quickly carved his way through the field, passed Norris and stuck to Verstappen like glue, patiently waiting for the Red Bull star to make a mistake.<\/p>\n When Verstappen ran wide on lap 14, Piastri pounced and cut back on the inside, taking charge of the race and cruising to a win.<\/p>\n Canadian Grand Prix<\/p>\n Earlier in the season, McLaren boss Brown said it was a matter of \u201cwhen, not if\u201d Piastri and Norris would collide. That moment finally arrived in Montreal on lap 67 of the 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n In a move of pure desperation, Norris made contact with the rear of Piastri\u2019s car<\/a>, and then the wall, and while Piastri went on to finish fourth, Norris\u2019 race was over, resulting in his first did not finish (DNF) of the season.<\/p>\n Norris admitted full responsibility for his botched overtake, while Piastri said he did not think there was \u201cany bad intentions involved\u201d.<\/p>\n British Grand Prix<\/p>\n Cool, calm and collected: they\u2019re the three words that describe (most of) Piastri\u2019s season so far.<\/p>\n However, there was a crack in composure \u2013 the first time in a long time \u2013 at Silverstone.<\/p>\n Against a gloomy backdrop and in rain-soaked conditions, Piastri was set for victory before receiving a 10-second time penalty<\/a> for \u201cerratic braking\u201d behind the safety car.<\/p>\n The penalty pushed Piastri to second behind Norris, who proceeded to win his home grand prix.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to say much. I\u2019ll get myself in trouble,\u201d Piastri said in his post-race debrief. \u201cApparently you can\u2019t brake behind the safety car any more.\u201d<\/p>\n Hungarian Grand Prix<\/p>\n If you want to see how close the 2025 championship battle is, watch the final two minutes of the Hungarian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n In the dying seconds of the penultimate lap, Piastri lunged his McLaren towards Norris<\/a> near turn one in an attempt to regain the lead.<\/p>\n He locked up and Norris \u2013 who miraculously kept his tyres alive on a one-stop strategy \u2013 powered through to win the race by 0.698 seconds.<\/p>\n The nail-biting chase was one of the closest races so far of the season and a fitting way to head to the break with the championship in the balance.<\/p>\n How does the rest of the season play out?<\/p>\n Using last year\u2019s results as a gauge for how this season ends hints that Norris is winning the 2025 championship.<\/p>\n Even looking at the state of play before the break, Norris had all the momentum \u2013 he won three of the final four races \u2013 but Piastri isn\u2019t the same driver he was in 2024. He\u2019s better, and he knows it.<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri lifts his trophy on the podium after winning the Belgium Grand Prix. Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n Piastri said ahead of the break: <\/a>\u201dLast year, I felt like I had some weekends that were very strong and felt like I had enough to win races on my good days. But there were a lot of average and sometimes bad days in between.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year has been full of a lot more good days. I have improved as a driver, but I think I\u2019ve been able to get closer to what I think I\u2019m capable of more often.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been the biggest thing. It\u2019s not come from one specific area. It\u2019s come from looking at lots of different things. Being able to execute what I think is my best more and more often, that\u2019s been the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n With how things are going, the championship is likely to come down to the final race, and Brown is preparing his team for the ecstasy and agony of that moment.<\/p>\n \u201cEventually, we\u2019ll just sit down and actually have a conversation and go \u2018right, one of you is going to win and it\u2019s going to be the best day of your life. One of you is going to lose. How do you want us to handle that?\u2019,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri wins his eighth grand prix in Belgium.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n Simply, the 2025 world champion will be the fastest driver who makes the fewest mistakes.<\/p>\n![\"McLaren](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/dace5ffc2daa3c9c3761edb3dc4eeb044d56c634.jpeg\")
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