Mounting Tension at McLaren – Inside McLaren’s papaya-coloured garage, a quiet tension lingers beneath the celebrations of recent success. While the team is at the top of Formula 1’s current era, a challenging dynamic has emerged between its two star drivers, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Both are immensely talented race winners who are still young enough to represent McLaren’s future. Yet rumours are circulating through the paddock that Norris is being favoured. Strategic decisions, media exposure and subtle cues from the leadership are all being interpreted as signs that the hierarchy favours Norris.
Team principal Zak Brown has dismissed such speculation outright, insisting that the team remains impartial. Former F1 driver and pundit Ralf Schumacher has also defended McLaren’s professionalism, describing talk of secret team orders as “absolute nonsense”. However, he also noted something revealing: the story may not have originated in the media, but rather from Piastri’s camp, which is managed by someone who has experienced first-hand what it is like to be treated as the “other driver”.
Verstappen/Russell war of words continues behind the scenes
The Sensitivity of Favouritism
Ralf Schumacher pointed to the psychological strain that favouritism, real or perceived, can cause inside a team. He observed that, when a driver senses imbalance, even small decisions can feel amplified: who receives the latest updates; who gets preferential treatment in the pits; and whose side of the garage the engineers appear more relaxed around.
In such an environment, even professionalism cannot mask the emotional toll.
The crowd’s reaction in Mexico City highlighted how deeply these narratives can take hold. Despite Norris’s commanding victory, sections of the audience booed him on the podium while cheering for Piastri. This was an unusual moment in the history of modern Formula 1, with fans siding so decisively with one teammate over the other, and hinted at the belief that there was unrest within the McLaren team.
If such stories were indeed encouraged from within Piastri’s camp, Schumacher warned that it would be “a dangerous game”. However, he also acknowledged another possibility: “Unless you’re planning to leave the team. Then you can do it.’
Echoes of Past Team Conflict: Webber’s Experience
To understand why this situation resonates so strongly, we must revisit the career of Mark Webber, who is now managing Oscar Piastri. During his time at Red Bull Racing, Webber was locked in a power struggle with his teammate at the time, Sebastian Vettel. The two drivers formed one of the most successful yet divided partnerships in the sport’s modern era.
The most infamous flashpoint came at the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix, an episode forever remembered as “Multi 21”. With Webber in the lead late in the race, the team instructed both drivers to maintain their positions, with Webber (car number 2) ahead of Vettel (car number 1).
Webber was in first place and Vettel was behind him. The team’s coded instruction, ‘Multi 21’, car #2 (Webber) ahead of car #1 (Vettel) with no fighting was clear.
However, Vettel ignored the directive, overtook Webber with thirteen laps remaining, and secured the win. An infuriated Webber confronted him: ‘Multi 21, Seb. Multi 21.’
The incident shattered trust within the team and left a lasting mark on Webber’s relationship with Red Bull. He later admitted that not reacting more strongly when he sensed the move coming was one of his biggest regrets.
“Not bad for a number two driver.”
However, the cracks in their relationship had begun to appear years earlier. At the 2010 British Grand Prix, Vettel damaged his front wing during practice. Red Bull only had one new-spec version remaining, which the team controversially took off Webber’s car and gave to Vettel. This decision symbolised where the team’s allegiance lay. Despite losing the upgraded component, Webber drove an inspired race and beat Vettel to win at Silverstone. Crossing the finish line, he delivered a stinging message over the radio: “Not bad for a number two driver.”
This encapsulated the frustration, pride and unspoken tension of being the second choice, and the sense of being let down by the team that was supposed to support him equally.
For Webber, those experiences left scars. For Piastri, who is managed by Webber, the parallels are hard to ignore.
Webber knows what it’s like to carry the burden of being the second driver, yet still feel the full brunt of internal dynamics and wonder whether your team truly believes in you or simply tolerates you.
‘Unfixed issues’ claims Norris
The Strategic Crossroads
In Formula 1, trust is currency. When a driver loses faith in the fairness of their team’s decisions, other options suddenly become more appealing. Although Piastri’s contract with McLaren is long-term, as Ralf Schumacher hinted, situations can change quickly.
If a driver no longer feels valued, or if management starts planning for the future around one clear leader, the incentive to seek a fresh start grows stronger. Schumacher speculated that, when confidence erodes on either side, ‘it’s a sure sign that you need to draw conclusions and leave the team’.
The paddock’s rumour mill is already in overdrive. Teams are preparing for the post-2026 engine regulation era, with several exploring potential line-ups that could transform the grid. Among them is one outfit whose recent ambition and resources have established them as a serious contender for top drivers.
A Future Beyond McLaren at Aston Martin
And here the whispers converge. Behind the scenes, paddock sources suggest that Aston Martin is preparing for a long-term overhaul of its drivers, likely seeking “two strong names” to succeed Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. Ralf Schumacher has even claimed that Oscar Piastri’s name is already being discussed in these conversations, alongside other disaffected talents such as Charles Leclerc. Piastri is poised to be headed to the Silverstone based green team after his time comes to an end at McLaren late next year.
Although McLaren is unlikely to change its driver line-up before 2026, these developments cast Piastri’s position in a new light. If he continues to feel underappreciated at McLaren, the prospect of an Aston Martin seat, backed by a rising technical programme and ample investment, could become increasingly tempting.
For now, Piastri remains committed, calm and composed in public. However, behind his diplomatic responses lies a deeply emotional story for his manager and fans who remember the “Multi 21” and “not bad for a number two driver” era. History has a way of repeating itself in Formula 1, and as McLaren walks a fine line between loyalty and leadership, the parallels are impossible to ignore.
Piastri’s future, it seems, may soon come full circle.
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As hunter Max Verstappen closes in on his papaya liveried rivals it appears there may be a web of cunning manipulation and calculated deceit having develop[ed at the McLaren Technology Centre. In true Machiavellian fashion McLaren now stand accused of discarding all loyalty, morality and honesty as behind the veneer of “we let them race” is in fact a dark plot which has favoured one of their drivers over the other.
Bernie Ecclestone, the ex-F1 supremo accuses the Andrea Stella and Zak Brown double act of favouring Lando Norris over their young Australian driver Oscar Piastri. Norris has overturned a 34 point deficit after a Piastri dominated race in the Netherlands and in just five remarkable race weekends now leads the Formula One drivers’ championship by a single point from his team mate.
Piastri though has somewhat contributed to his own downfall having a miserable weekend in Azerbaijan where he crashed both in qualifying and on lap one of the race. As if things couldn’t get any worse, Oscar made a false start in the Grand Prix before ending up in the wall in turn four…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
