Sky F1 pundit Martin Brundle predicts fireworks between McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris as they battle one another for the F1 2025 world championship.

The McLaren duo sit at the head of the Drivers’ Championship standings at the halfway point of the season, separated by just eight points.

Martin Brundle predicts fireworks in McLaren championship fight

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The British Grand Prix marked the halfway point in the season, a race won by Norris after Piastri was deemed to have driven erratically behind the Safety Car and penalised 10 seconds.

It was a controversial decision, with the Australian a victim of circumstance and coincidence; as he applied the brakes to warm his brakes and tyres, the lights on the Safety Car were turned off.

Leading at the time, Piastri served the penalty at his final stop. The delay dropped him behind Norris for the final laps, with the Brit hanging on to win his home race.

That was not for a want of trying from the Australian, who even suggested McLaren reverse the positions in light of what he termed was an “unfair” penalty.

The pit wall was unmoved, and Piastri followed his team-mate across the line to see his championship advantage to just eight points.

It prompted Brundle to predict a lively back half of the season.

“It seems the Drivers’ Championship showdown will indeed be between Piastri and Norris, and we can expect some fireworks there,” he wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“That’s the first time we’ve seen the angry side of the calm silent Aussie assassin. Oscar’s radio call for the places to be swapped if the team thought he’d received an unfair penalty was more than cheeky, though.

“And frankly they may as well hand the constructors’ trophy over to McLaren and save time in what will be a very short winter in F1 land.”

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👉 Oscar Piastri predicts championship nail-biter with Lando Norris

Piastri addressed the motives, and his expectations, following the Silverstone encounter.

Initially reluctant to discuss his penalty in post-race interviews, he finally opened up, admitting he was confused given his actions were consistent with previous laps, and an earlier Safety Car period.

“Yeah. I thought I would ask the question,” he said of his suggesting McLaren swap the cars around in the closing stages.

“I knew what the answer was going to be before I asked.

“But I just wanted a small glimmer of hope that maybe I could get it back. But no, I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it,” he added.

“Lando didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t think it would have been particularly fair to have swapped, but I thought I’d at least ask.

“It doesn’t change much for the Championship. I feel like I did a good job today. I did what I needed to. That’s all I need, and I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later.”

McLaren has refused to employ team orders this year, staying true to its mantra of affording both Norris and Piastri equal opportunity to take the title.

Underlying that is consideration of the greater good, and McLaren’s own championship ambitions, which take precedence over the drivers’ title.

“As part of the way we go racing together as a team, with Lando and Oscar, we always tell our drivers: ‘Don’t keep things in the back of your mind when you drive’,” Stella explained to media including PlanetF1.com at Silverstone.

“If you have a point, if you have a suggestion, if you want let us know what you’re thinking, just say it, and then we will evaluate with our people, we will make a decision, we will come back to you.

“So, I think what Oscar did is exactly what we incentivise our drivers to do. He communicated, he expressed his opinion, which we evaluated.”

McLaren banked another 43-points in Silverstone, the team’s second one-two in as many races, and now boasts 460 points in the Constructors’ Championship, more than double the tally of Ferrari in second place.

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