Lando Norris has revealed that he and Oscar Piastri requested to be in fewer social media videos together, but maintains that their relationship is "better than ever".
The McLaren pair are locked in a battle for their first F1 drivers' championship, with the Briton leading his team-mate —and Red Bull's Max Verstappen — by 24 points in the standings with two rounds to run.
Despite the presence of the Dutchman in the equation, it is still likely the drivers' crown will be returning to Woking for the first time since Lewis Hamilton's first title in 2008, even in light of the team's double disqualification from the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Ahead of the weekend in Sin City, it was put to Norris that he appears with Piastri on McLaren social media channels less frequently than in the past.
However, the 11-time grand prix winner denied it was a consequence of any amped up tensions surrounding the championship battle.
When asked by media, including RacingNews365, if his relationship with the Australian has changed as the title fight has intensified, Norris replied: "No. I think the reason you see less videos is because we both asked to do less videos.
"We’re racing drivers. We want to come and drive, not make videos for social media. So yeah, that’s our request as drivers.
"But we still get made to do plenty. Otherwise, it's still the same. And I'm very happy – I think we both are – that that's how it is.
"It's not because that's just how it is, it's because we both have a lot of respect for one another and we both understand the position that we're in."
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The question comes against a backdrop of unfounded claims of unequal treatment within McLaren, with it being suggested recently that the constructors' champions favour Norris.
But reflecting on his relationships with his past team-mates in F1, he also spoke glowingly about Piastri, highlighting traits he admires in the 24-year-old.
"And we both treat the world of driving versus just personally what we're like away from the track quite differently," Norris added.
"That's how I've always been. I feel like I've always got on well with my team-mates since karting. I've always wanted to because it just makes my life more fun, more enjoyable, and that's also why I'm here – because I love what I do. So the more I can do that, the better.
"But we still very much understand that we work for McLaren, we want the best for the team, we work very hard. And, as drivers always do, you try and maximise your own performance more than anything.
"But then when we step out of the car, we can still have a joke, we still have laughs in our debriefs, and we still enjoy everything away from the track.
"So, no. I think it's still better than ever in many ways. I think we’re still very different people. Like, he’s very calm, down to earth, very relaxed – always looks, just cool. And that’s something I admire quite a bit – how plain sailing he is with a lot of things. It’s a good attribute to have.
"Always hard to read what mood he’s in, but… and I think probably for me, you see more visually the moods I’m in. But otherwise, it's not like we go play golf together and do things like I have done with Carlos [Sainz]
"Daniel [Ricciardo] – I didn’t play golf with, but, you know, we’re still different people. But in terms of relationship – we get along well, we still work together well, and I think it's still better than it's ever been."
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