ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Lando Norris says he won't ask his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to give up a place to favor him in the three-way Formula 1 title fight with Max Verstappen at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Norris has a 12-point lead over Verstappen going into Sunday's race, with Piastri four points further back.
If Verstappen is far ahead of both McLarens, it's possible Piastri could be in a situation where he can't take the title himself but can aid Norris' title bid. If Verstappen wins on Sunday, a top-three finish would be enough for Norris.
“Honestly, I mean I would love it but I don’t think I would ask it because it’s up to Oscar if he would allow it. I don’t think it’s necessarily down to me,” Norris said, sitting alongside Piastri and Verstappen at a pre-race news conference on Thursday.
Norris added he believed he would help out Piastri if the roles were reversed but said they hadn't discussed any such situations within the team.
“Personally, I think I would, just because I feel like that’s just how I am, but this, it’s not really up to me,” Norris said. "I'm not going to ask it. I don’t want to ask it because I don’t think it’s necessarily a fair question.”
Piastri left the issue open. “It’s not something we’ve discussed,” he said. “I don’t really have an answer until I know what’s expected of me.”
Norris had the chance to wrap up the title at last week’s Qatar Grand Prix but a pit strategy blunder by McLaren handed Verstappen the win to boost his title defense chances. Piastri was second and Norris fourth in Qatar.
Verstappen said he plans just to “have a good time out there, try to maximize the result,” but admitted that in the circumstances, “I don’t even know what that means, in terms of where you are in the ranking.”
Mercedes driver George Russell was a vocal critic on Thursday of any suggestion Piastri might be asked to sacrifice even slim title chances, regardless of whether it means neither of McLaren's drivers ends up with the championship. No McLaren driver has taken the title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.
“I don’t think it’s acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who’s also in a shot of a championship in the very last race to move over for your teammate,” Russell said. "I think they both need to be given a shot and if they lose out because of it, you just need to say the other guy did a better job and that’s racing."
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Join us for Bay Area Youth Ballet's magical holiday tradition as The Nutcracker comes to lif… Read moreThe Nutcracker Presented By Bay Area Youth Ballet
anna kuhre said:
Dave Cohen said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.