Piastri weighs up intense battles with Norris and Red Bull in Spain

Oscar Piastri has reflected on his fierce intra-team battle with Lando Norris and the mounting challenge from Red Bull, saying “there’s more to it than just being fast” as he prepares for a pivotal Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

With both the #81 and #4 drivers showing flashes of brilliance across the opening eight rounds, the fight for P1 at McLaren is shaping up to be a season-long storyline.

Piastri’s third-place podium in Monaco kept him narrowly ahead of teammate Lando Norris in the WDC standings, with just three points separating the McLaren pair in one of the tightest intra-team battles on the grid.

The Spanish Grand Prix now looms as the next battleground — a circuit both drivers know well, and one that is poised to reveal the true pecking order heading into the summer stretch — as all eyes lay on Piastri to see if he can extend his narrow lead and continue his charge towards the 2025 title.

“I hope [I will be stronger than Lando in Barcelona], but it’s always been tight everywhere we’ve gone,” Piastri said.

“There’s been weekends where I’ve been a bit quicker, there’s been weekends where Lando’s been a bit quicker, but they’ve not necessarily been the weekends that we’ve beat each other on — there’s more to it than just being fast. 

“I think it’s going to ebb and flow a bit through the whole year, but I’m confident we’ve analysed what went a little bit wrong in Monaco. 

“I mean, it still wasn’t a terrible weekend, but just not as good as some of the weekends have been this year for me, so we’ve looked at what we can do a bit better, and we’ll try and put that in action.”

The Australian noted that the shifts in success between him and Norris aren’t tied to specific circuits, but instead come down to who can extract that final edge in performance on any given day.

Both McLaren drivers now have multiple race wins in 2025, with Piastri leading the intra-team tally with four victories to Norris’ two. 

The #81 also holds the edge in pole positions, having started from the front three times compared to Norris’ two — however, the Spanish Grand Prix could see that result levelled.

“It’s not one type of track that’s been good for me, it’s not one type of corner that’s been good,” Piastri explained.

“It’s, you know, if anything more who hooks it up on that day, so to speak, so there’s no clear trends, which, I mean, there never really has been clear trends. 

“Of course, there’s slight strengths and slight weaknesses, but, again, those also don’t always transfer from track to track. 

“You know, one weekend I might be a bit quicker in a high-speed corner, the next weekend it might be Lando, so it’s very, very tight between us. 

“I think we’ve got very similar strengths and weaknesses, and I expect that to stay the same.”

Not as easily comparable in performance is the growing fight between McLaren and Red Bull — or rather between McLaren and Max Verstappen.

The reigning World Champion’s defensive campaign has gathered speed over the last few weekends, namely at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix where Red Bull shocked the McLaren camp with the RB21’s unexpected pace to earn the Dutchman his second victory of the season.  

In Monaco, Verstappen remained in the lead through to the second last lap, praying for a late Red Flag to rescue what was a stagnant race across the board before he served his second mandatory pitstop on Lap 77, dropping him to fourth place. 

Arriving in Barcelona for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, Piastri says he expects Red Bull to be quick once again, with the high-speed characteristics of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya playing into the RB21’s hands.

“All the higher-speed circuits are generally where Max and Red Bull have been very strong, and this is another one of those circuits, so I expect them to be definitely in the fight this weekend, and we’ll see if there’s any other challenges outside of Red Bull,” Piastri said.

Alongside the car, the man behind the wheel is equally well-attuned with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, having been one of only two drivers to win there in the past nine years.

As a result, the Australian doesn’t think Max Verstappen “can be counted out” of this year’s championship fight after just eight rounds of racing. 

“I think the gap is not very large at the moment, and they’ve genuinely been competitive at a decent number of circuits now,” he said.

“Of course, there’s been weekends where we’ve been stronger, but again, I think they’ve been developing their car, they’ve been finding more performance, so I think at this point, Max is definitely still in the fight.”

What could throw a spanner in the works is the introduction of the new technical directive banning flexi-wings from Barcelona onwards, with Piastri believing that every team will be impacted to a certain degree when they roll out of their garages for FP1.

“I think the biggest problem is going to be how overhyped it is,” he said.

“We know what’s different. 

“I think everyone will have to change, at least to an extent. 

“I’ve not run the [new] front wing, but Lando’s already run the front wing before this year, so we’re confident. 

“That’s not our magic bullet — we don’t have a magic bullet — but that’s not our main strength.”

Hoping to reinstate a larger championship-leading margin after the chequered flag on Sunday, Piastri’s first task will be putting a clean weekend together, starting with Free Practice 1 at 21:30 AEST tonight.

Image: Formula 1

2025 Spanish Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, May 30:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 31:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, June 01:

Quali: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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