Lando Norris has stated he expects Oscar Piastri to “make my life hell” during the upcoming F1 campaign.
Norris enters the new season aiming to defend his title after narrowly clinching the championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi last December.
The Briton was embroiled in a fight for much of the year against Oscar Piastri before Red Bull's Max Verstappen became his primary challenger in the final rounds of the campaign.
Piastri is seeking to achieve a championship of his own this year, having been forced to watch his team-mate celebrate a career-high achievement.
Despite the 2025 intra-team title bout, Norris denied that his relationship with Piastri has changed.
“No, it's the same,” he told media including RacingNews365.
When asked how he expects the Australian to respond this year, Norris replied: “The way Oscar does - by not talking too much and getting on with it.
“I don't need to say anything, everyone knows what he can do. He'll show exactly what he did last year that he can be an incredible driver and be a world champion.
“I expect him to make my life hell.”
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Norris motivation 'not solely success'
McLaren enjoyed a positive pre-season period as it looks to build on its double championship success from 2025.
However, the team has asserted that it is not at the head of the pecking order coming out of testing from Bahrain.
Nevertheless, there will be expectations on its shoulders given its strong position last year - but as Norris seeks to continue his winning streak, he revealed he does not find motivation in success.
“I love to win, I want to win. I want to stand on the top step,” he said.
“But my motivation is not solely success. Every time I go out and race, I want to win, but my motivation to win is not success and solely relying upon holding the trophy or winning.
“For some people, I'm sure it's easy to rely so much upon the enjoyment of standing up there [on the podium].
“I'm sure every single driver loves to stand on a podium, to win, to celebrate, but my motivation to work, to do well, to become better starts with the vision of wanting to win.
“But at the end of the day, it's my team and the people that I have around me. They're the people that I want to do well for.
“So as long as I have them, then nothing changes for me.”
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