Momentum swings, close calls and a dramatic collision: How the Norris vs Piastri battle has played out so far

The 2025 season has featured several fascinating storylines so far – and one of these has centred around the increasingly close intra-team championship fight that has been playing out between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

From Round 1 in Australia through to the last race before F1’s traditional summer break in Hungary, the battle has seen its fair share of changes in momentum – as well as a dramatic collision along the way.

We’ve been taking a look back at how the duel has unfolded throughout the first half of the campaign – with plenty more to come when the action resumes at the end of August…

Round 1 – Norris triumphs as Piastri loses out

When the season kicked off at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Norris laid down an early marker by beating Piastri to pole position.

While Piastri remained on the tail of his team mate during the first half of Sunday’s race, heavy rainfall in the latter stages resulted in the home hero running off the track, dropping him down the order in the process.

Throughout the hectic final stages, Norris held position to take victory by just 0.895s from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Piastri having to settle for ninth place.

Round 2 – Piastri bounces back to win in China

Piastri was looking for a better outing when F1 moved on to Shanghai one week later – and while McLaren lost out to the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton in Saturday’s Sprint, Piastri grabbed pole position in Qualifying.

Despite a challenge from Mercedes’ George Russell at the start, the driver from Melbourne looked in commanding form as he led throughout before claiming his first win of the season.

Norris, meanwhile, reported an issue with his brakes during the latter stages but held onto second place, giving the Woking-based squad a 1-2 finish.

Round 3 – Verstappen beats both McLarens

Norris and Piastri dominated the top of the free practice timesheets when Formula 1 arrived at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit. However, Verstappen caused a surprise by outpacing both to secure pole position.

While there was a close moment between Verstappen and Norris when both emerged from the pit exit at the same time during Sunday’s race, the Dutchman remained ahead and ultimately became the third different winner in as many Grands Prix.

The final 10 laps saw Piastri close in on Norris during the battle for P2 before his challenge fell away towards the end, meaning that Norris led home his team mate in a 2-3 formation.

Round 4 – Another win for Piastri in Bahrain

After the opening three races, Norris led the championship by one point from Verstappen, with Piastri 13 points adrift in third. But it was Piastri who enjoyed a stronger Qualifying at Round 4 in Bahrain, the Australian taking pole while Norris ended the session back in sixth.

From there it proved to be an impressive weekend for Piastri, who built a strong lead on race day before eventually crossing the line with a sizeable 15-second margin from Russell in P2.

Norris’ good recovery drive saw him complete the podium in third, but the Briton had lost a fair bit of ground to his team mate in the championship, with Piastri having leapfrogged Verstappen to move just three points behind Norris.

Round 5 – Piastri takes the championship lead

After topping second and third practice in Saudi Arabia, Norris looked in promising form entering into Qualifying – but things unravelled for the Briton when a hefty crash in Q3 put him out of the session and left him down in P10 on the grid.

Piastri, meanwhile, lined up in second behind polesitter Verstappen. An early battle between the pair resulted in Verstappen being handed a five-second time penalty, dropping him behind the Australian who went on to claim a mostly untroubled win from there.

While Norris recovered to a final result of P4, Piastri’s victory was enough to steal the championship lead from his team mate, making him the first Australian to head the standings in 15 years.

Round 6 – Another 1-2 led by Piastri

The Miami Grand Prix was the scene of Norris’ debut win in 2024 and the British driver proved victorious at the track again during this year’s Sprint, with a well-timed pit stop bringing him out ahead of Piastri.

That run did not continue into Sunday’s race, however. With Verstappen taking pole ahead of Norris – and Piastri back in fourth – a mistake from Norris at the start dropped him back, while Piastri moved forwards and eventually overtook Verstappen for the lead.

Norris climbed back up to second and helped McLaren to seal another dominant 1-2, allowing Piastri to strengthen his championship lead in the process.

Round 7 – Verstappen beats Norris in Imola

Piastri was again the man to beat in Qualifying for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the Australian clinching pole position while Norris ended the session in fourth.

It was second-placed Verstappen who starred on race day, however, with the Red Bull man making a stunning move on Piastri to take the lead on Lap 1.

The Dutchman went on to win, while Norris finished ahead of Piastri in second. This put the gap between them in the championship at 13 points.

Round 8 – Norris converts Monaco pole to victory

Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets of every practice session during his home race weekend in Monaco – but Norris beat the Ferrari driver to pole position in Qualifying.

On Sunday the Briton held that position through Virtual Safety Car phases and a mandated two-stop strategy rule to claim his first Grand Prix win since the beginning of the season.

While Piastri joined him on the podium in third, the 24-year-old’s championship lead had been cut to just three points.

Round 9 – Piastri back on top in Spain

The momentum swung back to Piastri as F1 returned to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for Round 9 of the season.

After beating Norris to P1 on the grid in Qualifying, the championship leader returned to the top step of the rostrum on race day.

Norris was not far behind, with the team securing another 1-2, but Piastri had eked out his title standings advantage to 10 points.

Round 10 – Drama strikes as the McLarens collide

Entering into the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, Norris admitted that it was a case of “when” not “if” he and Piastri would come to blows on track during the battle for the World Championship.

Within a matter of days, that prediction had proven accurate. After a slightly weaker weekend for the squad in general, Norris was chasing down his team mate in a scrap for fourth during the closing stages of the race.

Contact occurred between them, resulting in Norris – who took responsibility for the incident – pulling off track with damage, while Piastri crossed the line in fourth. It was an incident that McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella labelled as “not acceptable”.

Round 11 – Norris kickstarts a strong run

Off the back of that incident in Montreal, Norris appeared keen to bounce back at the next round in Austria, having set the pace in second and third practice before grabbing pole position in Qualifying, with Piastri placing in third.

What followed on Sunday was a thrilling race-long duel between the McLaren duo as they fought for the lead, Piastri remaining hot on Norris’ tail throughout much of the Grand Prix.

Norris ultimately kept his team mate at bay by 2.695s to seal his third win of the campaign – and, after his non-score in Canada, the Briton was now 15 points off in the championship fight.

Round 12 – A home triumph for Norris and penalty for Piastri

Verstappen again beat both McLarens to pole position at Silverstone – but a dramatic Grand Prix saw the order change.

In an eventful wet-dry race, Piastri overtook Verstappen for P1 just as rain started to fall. The Australian was later hit with a 10-second time penalty for slowing too much when preparing for a restart following a Safety Car period, handing the lead to Norris during the pit stops phase.

From there Norris claimed victory in front of his home crowd, with Piastri coming home in a slightly less happy second. His title lead had again been reduced, with the margin now down to eight points.

Round 13 – Piastri returns to winning ways

The Sprint spoils went to Verstappen as F1 arrived at Spa-Francorchamps for Round 13, the Dutchman having overtaken pole man Piastri in the early stages – but it was a fight between the McLaren pair when it came to Qualifying.

Norris outpaced Piastri by just 0.085s to claim pole. However, after a delay to Sunday’s race due to heavy rainfall, Piastri was on the charge when racing eventually got underway and made a bold move on his team mate along the Kemmel Straight to take the lead.

While Norris went on the pursuit in the latter stages, he ultimately crossed the line just over three seconds adrift of Piastri – and, with that, the Australian had stretched his championship lead out again to 16 points.

Round 14 – Norris wins latest battle with Piastri

Hungary hosted the final round of the campaign prior to the sport’s traditional summer break – a venue that was also the scene of Piastri’s first Grand Prix victory 12 months earlier.

Qualifying threw up a surprise result when Leclerc grabbed an unexpected pole, and the Monegasque initially led for the early stages of the race. However, while Norris had fallen away at the start, an alternative one-stop strategy put the Briton ahead of both Leclerc and Piastri as the event progressed.

Piastri went on the chase of the other McLaren during the final phase, providing a thrilling conclusion to the Grand Prix – but Norris held off his team mate to win by just 0.698s.

The impact on the championship? Norris is now only nine points away from Piastri – and, with a further 10 rounds to go when the season resumes, it looks like there is plenty more action to come in the fight for the title.