David Coulthard believes the F1 2025 title battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris can be compared to Lewis Hamilton versus Max Verstappen in 2021.<\/p>\n
Explaining that comparison, Coulthard said both Verstappen and Hamilton \u201cdrove like World Champions\u201d in 2021, but only one could take that crown. He believes the same is true for Piastri<\/a> and Norris this season.<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri versus Lando Norris: Shades of 2021?<\/p>\n In one of the greatest seasons in Formula 1 history, rising star Max Verstappen and seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton went blow-for-blow for the 2021 World Championship. They went into the final round in Abu Dhabi level on points, where Verstappen prevailed, ending Hamilton\u2019s run of dominance.<\/p>\n Skip forward to F1 2025, and there is little to choose between McLaren team-mates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as they battle for the Drivers\u2019 Championship. It has evolved into a two-horse race, and with 10 rounds to go, just nine points split the duo in Piastri\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n After a trophy-laden junior career, Piastri is looking to reach the pinnacle by becoming Formula 1 World Champion. Meanwhile Norris, the experienced hand at McLaren, is looking to turn his first shot at the World title into victory. Winning three of the last four grands prix has boosted his cause.<\/p>\n This is a battle which could go all the way down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, like in 2021. Someone must win, someone must lose, and Coulthard sees the mirroring between both campaigns.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it was half a World Championship, Oscar\u2019s won,\u201d Coulthard told the Formula 1 website<\/a>. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone could say he hasn\u2019t deserved to be leading \u2013 he was leading before [the McLarens] came together in Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if Lando turns it around in the second half of the season, he\u2019s doing it against someone that\u2019s a talented third year F1 driver.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bit like 2021, where some people are still so vocal about what happened\u2026 only one driver could win. Both Max and Lewis Hamilton drove like World Champions that year, but only one of them could have the title.<\/p>\n \u201cI think McLaren have handled it really well. I think both their drivers are on the tamer side of animal than the wilder side of animal, so that probably makes it a little bit easier.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this could also be their only chance to win a World title; we don\u2019t know what 2026 brings, we don\u2019t know what the future is, so you\u2019ve got to seize the moment. That\u2019s why I\u2019m really impressed with how Oscar has stepped up this year.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Lando\u2019s response is showing his quality as well. I think it\u2019s going to be one of those things where both of them deserve it, but only one can get it.\u201d<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris head-to-head in 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 As Coulthard alludes to, the on-track competition has been almost exclusively clean between the McLarens, lacking the extreme fireworks produced by Hamilton and Verstappen. Their many comings together sparked a rivalry which spread through the Mercedes and Red Bull camps.<\/p>\n The one blip for McLaren was Canada, where Norris \u2013 chasing Piastri for fourth \u2013 hit the back of the sister McLaren and then the wall, eliminating himself from the race.<\/p>\n Minus a few near-misses like in Hungary down at Turn 1, the heartrates at McLaren have been pretty stable.<\/p>\n \u201cI predicted the coming together of the two McLaren drivers, because I\u2019ve been there and done that,\u201d Coulthard added. \u201cI crashed into Mika Hakkinen, he crashed into me.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it\u2019s always going to be the case that no matter how tight a team is, once you have the intensity of both drivers having a chance to win, then that\u2019s going to get more and more complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren has built what is looking like unassailable leads at the top of the standings<\/a>. The highest-ranked non-McLaren driver, Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen, is 97 points off top spot. In the Constructors\u2019, McLaren\u2019s closest rivals Ferrari sit 299 point behind.<\/p>\n