McLaren could have another nightmare, like 2007, with Norris and Piastri
F1 News
- Jeroen Immink
McLaren is in the fight for the drivers' and constructors' titles. They haven't forced Oscar Piastri to fully embrace the wingman role for Lando Norris. Norris has more points, but Piastri has regularly gone into battle with his teammate in recent races. In 2007, the same kind of scenario happened to the Woking-based team with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, resulting in them coming up empty-handed at the end of the season. Could this nightmare scenario be repeated?
In 2007, Alonso and Hamilton both joined McLaren. Alonso was the champion in Formula 1 at the time, having knocked Michael Schumacher off the throne with Renault. Hamilton was a rookie with high expectations. The two drivers put the heat on each other from the first race in Australia. Tensions continued to rise, resulting in Alonso stopping Hamilton in the pit lane during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. From then on, the two drivers didn't get on.
In the final race of the season in Brazil, there were three drivers left who could become F1 world champions: Hamilton, Alonso and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Some mechanical problems deprived Hamilton of his first title in his debut year; Alonso came third, and Raikkonen won the race and took the title. Ferrari became the constructors' champion in the process, and McLaren was disqualified with spy gate. Alonso left McLaren after a year, as the relationship with Hamilton was no longer tenable.
Are there any connections between McLaren today and 2007?
McLaren's situation in 2007 seems similar to 2024. Lando Norris has been driving for the British team for almost six years. But Piastri is an up-and-coming talent who has previously indicated he would not shy away from a title battle. McLaren forced Norris to let Piastri overtake him in Hungary to take his first F1 win.
In the process, Piastri showed at Monza and Baku that he would not back down. Strong qualifying and good overtaking allowed the Australian to excel in those races and finish ahead of Norris. Verstappen has not won since June, but Norris has not caught up with the Dutchman. McLaren, on the other hand, do top the constructors' standings.
Has McLaren learned from the past, though? Or is the same scenario as in 2007 hanging over the British team? This weekend, the F1 season resumes in the United States, where Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri will race for their own interests.
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton