Piastri: We’re still free to race just no contact

The Australian, speaking to media ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, said it was far too early to start any internal team orders despite holding a growing advantage over Norris in the standings. Piastri is 22 points ahead of his McLaren teammate heading to Round 11 this weekend in Spielberg.

“A healthy lead in the Drivers' Championship?” Piastri responded when asked if the time had come to request number-one status. “Your version of healthy is much bigger than mine. I think the situation has to change dramatically to start having those conversations. At the moment, all I can ask for is a fair chance to try and win the championship – and that’s what I want.”

Following the high-profile collision with Norris in Montreal that cost the team a potential double podium, Piastri said the matter was quickly resolved internally: “It was fine. Half of it was on the way to the Stewards' room, so that was fun."

"But all good, Lando put his hands up and apologised. We spoke about it before we even got back to the team," revealed Piastri was also clear that there are no changes to the Papaya Rules that govern McLaren’s driver conduct. “We’re still free to race, still fighting for a championship each... just make sure that we don't come into contact again.”

McLaren has allowed its two drivers to race freely this year, but with both firmly in the title hunt – and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen still lurking – team management faces growing scrutiny over whether to impose clearer hierarchies.

Piastri admitted McLaren was caught out in Canada, the first race weekend in 2025 without a McLaren on the front row. “We got taken by surprise a little bit that we weren’t as strong as we hoped,” he said. “By qualifying, we were in a better place and in the race our pace wasn’t bad – just that we qualified further back.”

He added that the team believes it understands what went wrong and has made adjustments for Spielberg: “We’ve got some new parts – some bits at the front of the car – and hopefully it makes us quicker. That’s normally the plan.”

Asked whether the expected high temperatures in Austria could swing things in McLaren’s favour, Piastri was cautious: “I don’t think it’s so much to do with the temperature or the weather. It’s just going to be how the track suits everyone’s cars, and hopefully it suits us well.”

The 23-year-old has brushed off suggestions he might now hold a psychological edge over Norris after Montreal, stating: “I don’t think it will change anything. For me, I certainly won’t do anything different... I don’t expect anything to change.”

He also rejected any comparisons to the infamous intra-team title war between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull, despite having Webber as his manager. “Lando and I are very different people to Mark and Seb,” he said. “The incident in Canada didn’t warrant any big decisions. It was a misjudgement from Lando that he apologised for immediately.”

Piastri reiterated that both he and Norris are playing the long game. “We don’t just want one opportunity this year to win a championship. We want this to go on for as long as we’re in Formula 1. The headline a few weeks ago was: ‘It’s not wise to win a championship and bring the house down with it.’ That’s still very much at the forefront of our minds.”

Despite leading the championship standings after ten rounds, Piastri insists he is not feeling extra pressure. “It normally means you’re doing something right if you’re leading a championship,” he said. “There have been a couple of scrappy weekends, including Canada, but a lot of weekends have looked as good as I wanted. If I put my best foot forward, I know it’s enough to win.”

He also said that neither he nor the team are concerned about recent Mercedes engine reliability issues affecting customer teams. “We’ve obviously been keeping an eye on them... I don’t have any concerns, and I know the team doesn’t either.”

Commenting on the newly published FIA Driving Standards Guidelines, Piastri said he welcomed the effort at transparency but warned against reading them too literally. “They’re not set-in-stone rules. Every situation is different. It’s important people don’t treat them as black and white... it’s still in the Stewards’ hands.”

Unlike several of his peers, Piastri did not attend the F1 movie premiere in Times Square but revealed he’s already seen the film. “It looked like a cool event, but I was otherwise occupied,” he said.

As McLaren’s intra-team rivalry heats up heading into Spielberg, Piastri is focused not on drama or politics but performance: “All I can ask for is a fair chance. That’s what I’ve got. And that’s enough.”