McLaren’s Oscar Piastri-Lando Norris Rule for Abu Dhabi GP exposed

The driver’s title winner will be decided at the Abu Dhabi GP between the top three drivers. Lando Norris is leading the campaign with Max Verstappen in close second, and then Oscar Piastri. Verstappen achieved an unbelievable comeback from a massive point deficit and is now in contention. However, the Dutchman’s winning chances might be ruined as McLaren is looking forward to playing the team game in Abu Dhabi.

As things currently are in the championship standings, Lando Norris needs atleast a top four finish to seal his title victory. Meanwhile, things aren’t so easy for Oscar Piastri, as his winning chances depend on a lot of other factors. Max Verstappen will have a chance only if McLaren doesn’t play the team game and help Norris achieve a podium finish by swapping places with Piastri.

Though Piastri recently refused to play the second fiddle at McLaren anymore, and help his teammate win the championship. But if it is mathematically over for Piastri to win the title, he will be bound to play the team game. For the Abu Dhabi GP, McLaren has decided to let both drivers fight it out on the track and have an equal opportunity for the title battle.

Reportedly, McLaren will provide both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri complete independence in deciding what to do in the race. Neither garage will exchange any data regarding the setup ahead of the race. Moreover, the data from the simulator run and testing will be kept separate for both garages, and the respective driver and his race engineer will only be allowed to see their side of the information.

However, in the final stages of the race, if things do not go Piastri’s way, he will have to help Lando Norris in his championship fight. McLaren will not hesitate to call out the Aussie to play the team game despite his resentment towards it. As such, the Briton has a very high winning chance, especially against Max Verstappen, as the Dutchman looks to close the 12-point gap to the forefront.

Oscar Piastri wants to put up a ‘cardboard barrier’ between the two McLaren garages

Certainly, it will be difficult to keep everything completely private and separate between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Tensions are very high on both sides of the garage, and they will give it their all to have an upper hand at the Abu Dhabi GP. As such, amid McLaren’s newly introduced rule to keep crucial data separate for both drivers, Piastri makes a hilarious joke on how they can further avoid information sharing between the two.

Oscar Piastri joked that McLaren must put up a cardboard barrier between the drivers’ sides of the garages. Further, he clarified that the team’s approach in terms of results remained the same as every other race this year.

Piastri aims to go out on track having the fastest car and winning the race, and potentially even the title. The Aussie added that Woking always wanted equal opportunities for both drivers over the races, and their approach was the same for the ultimate race in Abu Dhabi.

Set up a cardboard barrier between the two of us! No, it’s the same as usual. You know, obviously, we want to go out and make the car as quick as possible and win. We always wanted the same opportunities to go and win races, so it’s the same this week.

Oscar Piastri said, as reported by RacingNews365.

The 2025 season has been extremely enticing and nail-biting between the championship leaders. The driver’s title battle is far from over, even though the final race is up next. Max Verstappen cannot be counted out of the battle, and he will definitely not make life any easier for the duo of McLaren. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the situation plays out between Piastri and Norris.

Also Read: George Russell Demands “Zero Tolerance” from FIA over Rule enforcement

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