Lando Norris says on-track clash with Oscar Piastri “inevitable”

Lando Norris has conceded that an on-track clash with F1 title rival and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri is “inevitable”.

After nine rounds in F1 2025, just 10 points separate the McLaren duo at the top of the drivers’ championship.

Piastri has won five of the opening nine races, meaning the momentum is firmly on his side.

However, Norris is still within touching distance of his teammate despite a below-par start to the year.

Norris’ campaign has been littered with errors, particularly in qualifying.

Lately, Norris has become more comfortable with the MCL39, even if he was outpaced by Piastri in Barcelona last time.

The pair have yet to go head-to-head on track, besides a brief tussle at Imola, but Norris was on considerably better tyres.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, Norris admitted that an incident with Piastri will likely happen at some point as they fight for the title.

“We’ve never said we’re going to avoid everything,” Norris said.

“I think we’ve actually been quite open in saying at some point something is probably going to happen. We just have to be ready for that. Both Oscar and myself know we’re competitive and want to beat each other.

“The main thing is that we stay strong together as a team but everything is in the open, everything is obvious and known between us. We both want to win. We both want to beat each other but at the end of the day there can only be one person whoever performs the best over the course of the year.

“It’s not an if, it’s a when and we will see when that comes. Of course, we will try and avoid everything as much as possible. It’s inevitable that it happens in racing.”

Norris acknowledges Piastri improvement

Piastri has made a remarkable improvement over the winter break.

Norris won the qualifying head-to-head against Piastri 20-4.

After just nine races in 2025, Piastri has already out-qualified Norris five times - more than he did in the whole of last year.

Norris is unsurprised to see Piastri take a step forward.

“He’s going to have improved in most areas,” Norris added. “He’s in his third season of F1 and I remember in my third season you just come into the year a little bit more confident and with a bit more knowledge, and a more complete driver. That’s what he’s done. He’s performing well.

“He’s driving incredibly well at a very, very high level. He deserves everything he’s doing at the minute. It’s a good, fun rivalry between us.”