McLaren hits reset: Piastri says “clean slate” with Norris after sprint flashpoint
McLaren has scrubbed its internal whiteboard and started over. After a bruising run of intra-team clashes, Oscar Piastri says he and Lando Norris head into Mexico on equal terms, with any quiet punishments lingering from earlier skirmishes now off the table.
The team’s policy of equal opportunity has been under the microscope for weeks as the title fight tightens. There were whispers that Norris had been handed less favourable qualifying run plans after that messy tangle with Piastri in Singapore. Then Austin happened: the sprint lasted about 400 metres for both McLarens before Piastri tagged Norris and the pair were done. Harsh lesson learned, and apparently, a full reset enacted.
“We’ve gone through it again — we go through every weekend,” Piastri said in the paddock. “I think there’s a degree of responsibility from my side in the sprint, and we’re starting this weekend with a clean slate for both of us… The consequences on Lando have been removed.”
That’s a notable shift at a time when the margins are suddenly razor-thin. Max Verstappen has chopped chunks out of the deficit in recent rounds, tightening the title picture and amplifying scrutiny on how McLaren manages its drivers. The maths doesn’t need explaining: two fast cars are a gift until they start tripping over each other.
Piastri, who remains the championship leader with a cushion that’s grown lighter than it looked a month ago, isn’t interested in the psychology of hunter vs hunted. He’d rather be the rabbit.
“I’d rather have the championship lead than be in any other spot,” he said. “It normally means you’re doing something right. Through the season we’ve done a lot of things right and there are things we can still do better.”
His view on Verstappen is equally uncluttered: control the controllables, and the points take care of themselves. “The gap has shrunk a little bit in the last few races, but my focus has always been on getting the most out of every weekend. Some we have, some we definitely haven’t. If I do a good enough job of that, it doesn’t really matter what the picture looks like.”
Behind the corporate language sits a pragmatic move from McLaren. Whatever internal correction they felt Norris needed post-Singapore, Austin reset the ledger. The team can’t afford another self-inflicted wound while Verstappen senses daylight. And if there’s one sure way to lose a championship, it’s by managing two cars differently and inviting paranoia into the garage.
A clean slate doesn’t mean a ceasefire — it’s still Norris vs Piastri, and both know how much lap-one positioning and qualifying sequencing matter at altitude. But it does remove the suspicion that one was boxed in by policy. From here, execution matters more than politics.
There’s a line to tread. Keep it free and fair, and you risk elbows-out moments like Austin. Clamp down too much, and you slow one of your title assets just to keep the peace. McLaren’s adjusted stance feels like the only viable middle ground in a fight that’s likely to run deep into the autumn: race hard, play nice, don’t hand points to Red Bull.
No team wins a modern title managing in arrears. McLaren needed a reset; now it’s got one. What happens next — in qualifying runs, at turn one, and in the debrief — will tell us whether this was a smart release valve or just a truce before the next spark.
Key takeaways:
– Piastri admits “a degree of responsibility” for the Austin sprint tangle.
– Any behind-the-scenes penalties for Norris have been lifted; both drivers start Mexico on equal footing.
– With Verstappen cutting into the lead, McLaren is prioritising clean execution over internal politics.
Watch how they play it this weekend: who gets the prime track slots in qualifying, who yields in wheel-to-wheel moments, and whether both papaya cars make it beyond turn one with their title bid intact.
