"I’M NOT A NUMBER TWO" – OSCAR PIASTRI’S BLUNT WARNING TO MCLAREN MANAGEMENT 2026
After a brutal 2025 title fight, the Norris-Piastri rivalry reaches a breaking point. We analyze the 2026 McLaren driver fallout.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are sticking together at McLaren for a fourth season in 2026, but things got tense as they battled over the 2025 F1 title.
For the first time, both drivers emerged as genuine title favourites when 2025 began. McLaren nailed their car, and it showed—Norris took the win in Australia, then Piastri racked up five victories in the first nine races.
But in July, McLaren shifted their focus to the 2026 car, and that gave Max Verstappen an opening. He clawed back from being 104 points behind Piastri and 70 behind Norris after 15 rounds. Still, Norris hung on and clinched the drivers’ title by just two points.
All season, you could feel the tension building behind the scenes. People started saying McLaren was favouring Norris, especially after a few team orders in Italy and some questionable strategy calls in Belgium and Hungary that seemed to go his way.
Norris claims his rivalry with Piastri is “as perfect” as the infamous Hamilton-Alonso showdown at McLaren. The outside world kept talking, but Piastri insisted his relationship with Norris was “better than ever”. Norris, though, compared what’s going on now to the fierce fight between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso back in 2007. For anyone who remembers, that partnership crashed and burned—Alonso left after a year, feeling like the team sided with Hamilton.
But Norris says he and Piastri have a rivalry just as good. He even mentioned the first F1 race he ever watched was Hamilton vs. Alonso at McLaren, and he thought it was “as perfect” as what he and Piastri have now. “To watch that, to see Lewis on the podium, the crowd, the energy—I wondered at seven years old what that would feel like,” Norris said while picking up the Autosport Champion award. “Last year, I got to live it. It was one of the most special moments of my life.”
As for Piastri, he’s now Norris’s longest-running teammate—2026 will be their fourth year together. Norris started alongside Carlos Sainz, then spent two years with Daniel Ricciardo before Piastri joined in 2023.
But their future as a duo isn’t guaranteed. There are rumours McLaren’s got an eye on Charles Leclerc at Ferrari in case Piastri decides to walk away after 2026. He’s apparently frustrated after how 2025 played out.
There were a few flashpoints. At Silverstone, Piastri wanted to swap places with Norris, but McLaren ignored him, and after a penalty for a safety car restart, Norris got his first home win. In Hungary, Norris beat Piastri again, this time thanks to a one-stop strategy McLaren let him run.
The biggest controversy came in Italy. McLaren told Piastri to give Norris back second place after an undercut, even though they’d told Norris he’d stay ahead if he let Piastri pit first. Piastri obeyed, but he wasn’t happy about it.
Then there was COTA, where McLaren blamed Piastri for a sprint race crash with Norris, even though earlier they’d punished Norris for banging wheels with Piastri in Singapore. All these decisions added up, and now people are wondering how much longer this pairing will last.
SERGIO PEREZ BREAKS SILENCE ON CADILLAC’S FIRST FOUR RACES OF 2026 F1 SEASON
Discover why Sergio Perez is confident in Cadillac’s 2026 path despite urgent needs for better pace and reliability fixes.
Sergio Perez didn’t waste time sharing his thoughts on Cadillac after the first four races of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Cadillac shows up in 2026 as F1’s newest team, but honestly, not a lot of people expected fireworks right away. With veterans like Valtteri Bottas and Perez behind the wheel, the team’s start has been a mix, some moments full of promise, others derailed by reliability issues.
Still, Cadillac isn’t just stuck at the back. Lately, they’ve been right there fighting with Aston Martin and even managed to split them in Miami, which turned a few heads.
Perez knows the team is at risk of falling behind in this crazy-fast development race, though. “We still have work to do, but I’m confident we’re on the right path,” he told reporters, including Motorsport Week.
He added, “Sometimes, once tyre degradation sets in, we can hang with the midfield, but they always seem to find another gear. There’s a long way to go this season, but we’re in a rush to find more pace. We know Aston will get stronger, and we don’t want to be left behind.”
Racing Aston Martin has actually brought Perez some enjoyment. He especially likes battling Fernando Alonso, calling those fights fair and satisfying. Still, he pointed out a weak spot: “We’re having fun with them. Racing Fernando is always great because he’s so fair. But we struggled with tyre degradation; we burnt through them too quickly. We picked the hard compound, but honestly, looking back, I should’ve gone with the soft.”
He said there’s plenty to analyse, and really, the key is getting a better grip on their car as they look ahead to Canada. “We don’t have much time, but in the short term, we need to fix the degradation. We have some ideas, but putting them together is our biggest challenge in the next few weeks.”
Cadillac may be the new kid on the block and still finding its feet, but it’s already starting to make an impact. The road out of the lower ranks won’t be easy, but they’re moving in the right direction.
HOW KIMI ANTONELLI’S THREE-RACE WIN STREAK IS REDEFINING THE MERCEDES TEAM HIERARCHY
With a 43-second gap in Miami, Antonelli proves he’s ready to lead the World Championship. Can Russell bounce back in Canada?
David Coulthard, the former Formula 1 driver, recently pointed out that Kimi Antonelli might be on track to overtake George Russell as Mercedes’ team leader.
Antonelli has been on an impressive run, clinching victories in the last three races and pulling ahead by 20 points over his main competitor and teammate, Russell.
At the Miami race, the young Italian once again outperformed his more seasoned teammate, with Russell managing only fourth place, trailing by 43 seconds.
Coulthard acknowledged Antonelli’s rapid rise in 2026, which is just his second season in F1. He highlighted Antonelli’s strengths and suggested that the Italian is, in many ways, now leading the Mercedes team.
“He’s come of age,” Coulthard said during the Up To Speed podcast.
Despite being relatively new, Antonelli has shown resilience, dealing not only with the pressure from a driver like Lando ready to strike but also with technical glitches like inconsistent paddle shifts. Coulthard mentioned how Antonelli kept his cool even when his engineer, Bono, was trying to help troubleshoot the issue in a tense moment.
“I think he’s earned the right to lead the World Championship,” Coulthard added, noting that this situation probably feels uncomfortable for George. Still, the expectations now lean heavily toward Antonelli leading the team, especially based on recent results.
Coulthard also pointed out that Russell has the experience and skill to reclaim his position as the team’s lead driver, but emphasised that only one can come out on top; someone must finish first and the other second.
The rivalry between them might start opening doors for other teams. Coulthard noted that improvements from McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull were already noticeable, especially in Miami.
“Winning in the best car isn’t always straightforward. Many have tried and struggled,” he said.
For Russell, who is feeling the weight of this momentum shift, the upcoming race in Canada will be crucial if he wants to close the gap and halt Antonelli’s winning streak.
