Six-time Formula 1 grand prix winner Riccardo Patrese believes it would be better for McLaren to prioritise Oscar Piastri for this year’s championship, Afrosport reports.
McLaren has been the standout team in 2025, winning seven of the 10 races so far. Piastri has outperformed Norris by winning five of those seven races and sits 22 points clear of his teammate at the top of the drivers’ standings.
Both drivers have battled each other on occasion this season, most notably at the last race in Canada, where Norris tagged the back of Piastri’s car and ultimately retired from the race with evident damage.
Patrese thinks Piastri has to be given preference at this point, highlighting how he played second fiddle to Nelson Piquet during their time at Brabham in 1983.
“I would put Piastri first. I think he’s a bit stronger in the head than Norris, and also he has more points than Norris at the moment,” Patrese told List of Sweepstakes Casinos.
“Zak Brown can make a decision because it happened to me in ‘83. I had approximately the same points as Nelson Piquet, but then I crashed in Acque Minerali in Imola, and then we had to fight again with the Renault and the Ferraris.
“In the end, they decided because our engine was not very reliable and of course, Ferrari and Renault had more experience with the turbo engine. They said okay, ‘Riccardo crashing up the Aqua Minerali, now we need to go with one driver to fight them and decide to give this opportunity to Nelson’.
“They decided that I had to do the work as a tester of new parts of the engine that could test in maybe one Grand Prix earlier to see if they were reliable or not. And then they were putting on the Nelson car because, of course, they could check if they broke down.
“So, in the end, there was this choice and discussion that they decided, and it was the right choice because we won the championship with Nelson. They still sacrificed me. Anyway, as a professional driver, I accepted it because I was in the team to work for the team.
“So, at the end, that was the fourth Grand Prix of the season. Very early in the season. And it worked. Nelson won the championships, and I won the last Grand Prix in South Africa, and it was a big party at the end of course.”
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— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 23, 2025
Piastri and Norris will be at it again when the F1 paddock heads to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend.
