Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri thrive at McLaren F1, balancing fierce competition with team-first values in a high-stakes Formula 1 season.
Lando Norris enjoys having a good relationship with his teammate, Oscar Piastri. The two McLaren F1 drivers are contending for a world title this year but, so far, their relationship remains strong, and the Briton jokes about why that is.
“I think it’s because I’m an excellent teammate,” Norris says with a smile.
He grins, as he often does. He’s a smiling guy. But he is sincere. It’s not about saying something negative.
“Even though your teammate is always your biggest competitor, the one you want to beat and have to beat more than anyone else, I’ve always wanted to have fun, laugh, make jokes, and enjoy life. That’s what I came here to do, to enjoy life.”
“And that’s what we want to do together. We’re different people, different characters, but we both know deep down that we want to race each other. But we also want to enjoy the journey.”
Norris insists that he and Piastri do not want to spoil the pride they feel in representing their team’s colors.
“I’m employed by the team and I have to drive and race for them. The priority is the Constructors’ Championship. That’s what we have to win at the end of the season.”
“But there’s also the individual championship. Everyone has seen many championships won by teammates that turned sour and went in the wrong direction. And that usually leads to a lot of things, like a domino effect of things starting to go wrong. And that’s what we don’t want.”
“We know we always want to race. We’re free to race each other as individuals, but we also know that our only goal is to race for McLaren, the team, the name under which we compete. And that’s something we’re both very proud of.”
Despite the healthy competition between the two teammates, Norris admits it can also be tough to be so close to his biggest rival for the world championship: “The thing that makes it good is also the thing that makes it bad.”
“It’s that you can see everything the other is doing. You can learn from each other very easily. But the positive thing is that, as a team, it pushes us to perform at a very, very high level, and that’s only beneficial for the team.”
