Martin Brundle calls for “gloves off” F1 title battle between Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri

Martin Brundle wants McLaren to allow their drivers to race freely as the battle for the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship hots up.

With six rounds to go, just 22 points separate Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the top of the F1 standings.

The pair’s rivalry has been mostly civil, with McLaren managing it to ensure things remain “fair” between the title contenders.

The Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday was the latest flashpoint between Norris and Piastri.

Norris overtook Piastri on the opening lap, forcing the Australian slightly wide.

Piastri felt Norris’ move was too aggressive and not in line with McLaren’s rules of engagement.

The stewards took no action, and McLaren decided they had no reason to intervene.

Writing in his post-race column for Sky Sports, Brundle gave his view on the incident between the McLaren duo.

“This in turn put Piastri in proximity of Verstappen and opened the door on the inside for fast-starting Norris to successfully attack and claim the inside line for turn three,” Brundle wrote.

“It was opportunistic and quite brilliant from him, but on the damp surface and having tagged the back of Verstappen’s Red Bull and damaged his front wing, he continued his elbows-out overtake by bouncing off team-mate Piastri, who was not impressed to say the least.

“The race stewards were less concerned on the opening lap, and no penalty was applied.”

McLaren should let their drivers “duke it out”

With McLaren wrapping up the constructors’ championship in Singapore, all attention is now on the drivers’ championship fight.

Brundle believes it’s time for McLaren to let their drivers race freely with “zero interference”.

“Piastri appealed to the team to sort that out given the ‘no contact’ rules between them, which they declined,” Brundle added.

“It would have been a feisty post-race team debrief, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the dynamics between the two McLaren drivers will irrevocably change going forward. It was just a matter of time.

“Perhaps McLaren should now just let their two drivers duke it out, gloves off, between themselves with zero interference.

“Any nuclear fallout will be tempered by the need to finish races, score points, avoid FIA in-race penalties, avoid Verstappen catching the pair of them, and running out of the latest specification of parts as the team focuses on 2026.”