Oscar Piastri says relationship with Lando Norris unaffected by title battle

Oscar Piastri has claimed his relationship with Lando Norris will not spiral out of control as the McLaren drivers duel to become champion of the world.

Following his much-needed victory last time out in Monaco, Norris heads into Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix just three points adrift of his Australian team-mate.

McLaren have taken six victories from the eight rounds so far, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – the only driver outside of the British team to win this season – claiming this week that he no longer feels he is in the title fight.

“Of course it is an interesting dynamic, but my relationship with Lando at the track, and away from the track, is very similar to how it has been, and, if anything, we get along better now than we ever have,” Piastri told the PA news agency.

“The way we work together to give ourselves the best chance of success is still as strong as ever, and that has been a strength from the moment we have been team-mates.

“We get along very well. That hasn’t changed. I don’t expect it to change. But obviously we are both trying to win a world championship and only one of us can do it.”

Piastri and Norris are in their third campaign as team-mates but their first as direct competitors for the title. McLaren have declared both are free to fight – a noble philosophy but one that rarely ends well.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s friendship soured across three seasons as title rivals when Mercedes dominated the sport. Here at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya in 2016, Hamilton and Rosberg took each other out on the first lap – one of multiple flashpoints which led to Toto Wolff threatening both men with race bans.

It started with Mercedes misery