Oscar Piastri isn’t about to change who he is just because there’s a championship on the line. Not this year, not at McLaren.
A week on from team orders at Monza that flipped him behind Lando Norris late in the race, the Australian has doubled down on his long-game philosophy. Even with the Drivers’ Championship lead and nine rounds to go, Piastri’s message is simple: McLaren comes first, and he won’t get “more ruthless” to prove a point.
“We’ve had very good discussions this week about what went on and what can be made clearer, what can be improved,” Piastri told ESPN. “Ultimately I know that the team would have my best interests at heart. And ultimately, I want to protect that because I can’t have my own success without the team having success. So protecting that is a very important thing for me.”
If Monza felt like a flashpoint, it was because the picture was so clean. McLaren versus McLaren, both drivers in the title fight, a slow stop for Norris handing Piastri track position behind Max Verstappen — and then the call from the pit wall to swap back. It wasn’t universally popular. It rarely is when the elbows come in and the stakes rise.
The team’s reasoning referenced its own recent history. McLaren has been laser-focused on fairness between its drivers all season, and the Monza instruction echoed the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, where a similar swap handed Piastri his first F1 win. Same principle, different beneficiary. You could almost hear the engineers crouching on that tightrope: don’t pick a favourite, don’t break the trust, don’t hand the other guy a grievance to carry through the flyaways.
And it’s that trust that Piastri is guarding, even as the standings — which he still leads — are a live wire. Asked whether the title fight demands a harder edge now, he was crystal clear: “Not at the cost of future success. Definitely not.”
It’s not a fashionable stance when you’re fighting your teammate for a world title. The argument goes that the Constructors’ Championship is the big earner, that McLaren’s position there allows its drivers to be selfish now. The reality inside Woking is a little more grown-up: the drivers’ battle sits on top of a structure built on team-first choices and consistent calls. Break that, even once, and you don’t just risk one race. You risk the whole apparatus that’s put you in this position.
Piastri understands that better than most. He arrived as a junior phenom — Formula Regional, F3 and F2 titles stacked in three straight seasons — and McLaren moved decisively to get him, even paying out to end Daniel Ricciardo’s deal early. That kind of institutional backing leaves a mark. Across the garage, Norris has shown similar loyalty through the rough patches and the rapid revival. This pair aren’t just fast; they’re company men who’ve grown up with the same playbook.
None of this means it’ll be a cuddle to the finish. Titles between teammates rarely are. But it explains why Piastri didn’t draw a line in Monza and why he doesn’t intend to in the short term. He’s betting on the same thing McLaren is: that a consistent, transparent approach wins more than it loses, and that the opportunities he gives up today will come back his way tomorrow.
There’s also a hard-edge practicality beneath the Zen. Team orders aren’t going anywhere when there are two cars on the same strategy racing the same rival. What matters is that both drivers believe the swaps even out over time — and that the swap is worth it. In Hungary last year, it gave Piastri a win. In Italy, it helped lock down a result with minimum risk. These are the trades top teams make when both titles are in play.
Will that restraint hold in the heat of a final few rounds with everything at stake? History suggests the temperature will rise. But Piastri is playing it cool for now, and that’s not naivety. It’s calculation. He knows exactly how he got here — and who helped him do it.
“I can’t have my own success without the team having success,” he said. In a season defined by a McLaren civil war that refuses to turn nasty, that might be the sharpest weapon he’s got.
