Lando Norris believes his relationship with McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri is “better than ever” despite the potential stresses of the two fighting it out to be World Champion.
For much of the 2025 Formula 1 season, the Drivers’ Championship battle has been an intra-team affair between Norris and Piastri, a scenario that has seen friendships implode on numerous occasions previously in F1 history.
But while the pair have not been seen as frequently in amusing videos on social media, and have had occasional on-track flashpoints such as their coming together in Singapore, points leader Norris was quick to dismiss that there was any breakdown in their relationship.
“I think the reason you see less videos is because we ask to do less,” said Norris in the press conference ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. “We’re racing drivers, we want to come and drive, not make videos for social media. That’s our request as drivers but we still get made to do plenty.
“It’s still the same and I’m very happy. I think we’re both happy that’s how it is. It’s not just because that’s how it is. We both have a lot of respect for each other and we understand the position that we’re in.
“We both treat the world of driving and personally what we like away from the track quite differently. That’s how I’ve always been, I feel like I’ve always got on well with my team mates since karting, always wanted to, makes my life more fun. I love what I do, so the more I can do that the better.”
This weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix is the first event in a triple-header to round out the campaign. While Norris holds a 24-point lead ahead of the final push and both drivers will be fully focused while in the cockpit, the atmosphere when out of the car is far less tense than some radio messages across the season would suggest.
“We still very much understand we work for McLaren, we want the best for the team,” added Norris. “We work very hard and as drivers you always try and maximise your own performance but when we step out of the car we can still have a joke, have laughs in our debriefs and we still enjoy everything away from the track. I think it’s still better than ever in many ways.
“We’re still very different people. He’s calm, down to earth, very relaxed, always looks cool and that’s something I admire quite a bit is just how plane sailing he is, it’s a great attribute to have. Always hard to read what mood he’s in and I think probably for me you see more visually what moods I’m in but otherwise, it’s not like we go play golf together.
“In terms of relationship, we get along well, work together well and I think it’s still better than it’s ever been.”
