Is McLaren's friendly fight making the F1 title race boring? Our writers have their say

The 2025 Formula 1 world drivers’ title looks set up to be a battle that will go down to the wire, but the feeling around the Oscar Piastri vs Lando Norris face-off hasn’t had the edge to match it.

McLaren has tried to make the competition as fair as possible between its two drivers and both Piastri and Norris have obliged and replicated that philosophy – even when opportunities to take advantage of it are presented.

Has this made the battle for this year’s F1 world drivers’ championship boring? Our writers have their say.

On the surface it isn’t interesting but the rarity of the situation makes it fascinating – Filip Cleeren

At face value, the answer is yes. So far, Norris and Piastri’s team-first approach has been taking the needle out of our first proper title fight since 2021, with McLaren’s insistence on fairness frustrating fans who want to see an all-out title fight or those craving drama to spice up what has been a season dominated by one team. The overwhelmingly negative reaction to its heavy-handed position swap in Monza is a good example. Not that I’m willing for them to take each other out, but I do like intriguing storylines, so I do catch myself wondering how the fight will develop, and when or if the harmony will eventually derail.

Having said that, I do find the whole situation utterly fascinating just because it’s so rare. Title fights aren’t supposed to go this way. We are used to Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The way Norris and Piastri are approaching what could well be a unique shot at a world title, and how team chiefs Zak Brown and Andrea Stella are managing the situation, is pretty much unprecedented in the modern era. Piastri’s speech after Monza spoke volumes, explaining he and Norris are fully intending to fight for titles with McLaren for many years to come, so they feel morally obliged to protect the team members who have provided them with this opportunity.

“It’s easy enough to put yourself second at times like that,” the Australian said. I’m not sure many of his peers or predecessors would agree with him. But as a driver you can’t win in this situation; either you’re being accused of being too nice by some or being too selfish by others. McLaren is hoping its philosophy will pay off in the long term to keep both drivers engaged. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly makes for interesting character studies.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Thompson – Getty Images

McLaren drivers are playing nice until it’s time not to be nice (like now) – Stuart Codling

Cinephiles rightly venerate Alex Baldwin’s seminal, if mannered, “always be closing” monologue in Glengarry Glen Ross. But somehow I feel “second prize is a set of steak knives… third prize is you’re fired” isn’t quite the sort of tone and content you’ll get in a behind-the-scenes pep talk from McLaren team principal Stella.

No, I see Stella more as a Patrick Swayze in the cult classic Road House, impassively but firmly telling his motley collection of drinking-den bouncers, “Be nice – until it’s time to not be nice.”

There is perfect clarity in the delivery of this monologue, no doubt who carries the authority.

“Well, uh,” ventures one of the hapless employees, “how will we know when that is?”

“You won’t,” comes the steely response. “I’ll let you know.”

I would venture that we’re coming up on that time, Max Verstappen’s victory in the Italian Grand Prix notwithstanding. McLaren virtually has the constructors’ title in the bag. One of its drivers is surely going to collect the other silverware – unless they take each other out of every race from now until Abu Dhabi.

Stranger things have happened, you might say, but the dead hand of being nice has lowered the stakes in this so-called title fight. It’s not even a fight – it’s an orderly queue.

So the time has come to not be nice. Time to “take out the trash”…

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Zak Brown, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

It is barely simmering, but McLaren is always one flashpoint away from boiling point – Haydn Cobb

Credit has to be given for McLaren trying, and at times tying itself in knots, to keep everything equal between Piastri and Norris as the pressure cranks up. Credit too goes to the drivers for buying into the philosophy and avoiding direct confrontation even when there could’ve been moments of conflict.

Admittedly it is semi-refreshing to see a huge sporting contest not resort to dark arts, snide tactics or bad words thrown around – but at the same time it feels strange. Perhaps I’ve got too used to all-out warfare and friends turned enemies when it comes to F1 title battles – those are the ones that standout in history for the right and the wrong reasons. Verstappen vs Hamilton, Prost vs Senna, you know the kind.

This season’s title fight hasn’t been a classic and it has avoided being sparked into strife despite opportunities – Norris clattering into Piastri going for a gap that wasn’t there in Canada, split strategy headaches in Hungary, team orders in Italy.

But it feels like it is always one incident away from igniting.

McLaren is doing all it can to appease and pacify both its drivers, knowing that long-term this is its best driver pairing, so it cannot simply let open warfare breakout once it wraps up the world constructors’ title. The key question is, how long can it last? And if that harmony breaks, is it back to the good/bad old days?

Title battle lacks edge like the classics – Ed Hardy

What do you want from an F1 championship battle? To me, it should have lots of wheel-to-wheel racing, moments of squeaky bum time, passion on display and even little bits of off-track drama.

This has happened many times: 1987 is a good example, perhaps most relevant to 2025 given it was between team-mates, or recently 2021. I remember watching that year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in a pub and was blown away by F1 stealing centre stage from the Premier League.

Nelson Piquet, Williams FW11B Honda, leads Nigel Mansell, Williams FW11B

Photo by: Motorsport Images

It was the first time I’d seen that happen, as the fight between Hamilton and Verstappen just grabbed everybody’s attention. People love drama, people love passion, it is why live sport can be so great, yet 2025 is just devoid of that. F1 certainly isn’t rivalling football for the main screen down my local any time soon.

Just look at Monza: Piastri aided Norris with a tow in qualifying, before succumbing to team orders once again in the race. Would Nelson Piquet or Nigel Mansell done either in 1987 had Williams instructed them? Certainly not and it’s no dig on Piastri, as Norris would have done the same.

So I counteract Haydn’s point that it’s semi-refreshing to see the dark arts not being utilised. To me, pushing the limit of what’s acceptable – but still staying within – should be a given as it shows an athlete doing all they can to claim the ultimate prize. Winning the mental battle is just as important as winning on track. I also don’t see it in either McLaren driver to want to fight a little more dirty, though they could be famous last words.