Oscar Piastri reveals striking outcome if Lando Norris F1 fight had 'got nasty'

Oscar Piastri has joked that he or Lando Norris might not still be racing in papaya had their intra-McLaren F1 drivers' championship battle turned "nasty" last year.

The Australian insists his relationship with his team-mate did not change despite the pressures of the title fight, something he feels was "really important" for the health of the Woking-based squad.

"In all honesty, I don't think it really changed," Piastri said on the High Performance Podcast. "I don't think anyone really struggles to believe [that]; it's very much down to how we are as people.

"I think we're both quite good at separating the people and what happens on the racetrack versus off the racetrack.

"Our marketing days that we had to do together, for example, were exactly the same... we get asked about our relationship as team-mates quite a lot, and I think probably it was actually better at the back end of last year than it was, say the first six months [as team-mates, in 2023] that we were getting to know each other, just because we know each other more."

Ultimately falling 13 points short of the British driver in the season-finale showdown — which included Max Verstappen, who recovered to second in the standings — the nine-time grand prix winner reflected on the remarkable maturity and levelheadedness displayed by both McLaren drivers at the height of battle.

"And we spend so much time around one another every year, so it really didn't change much... we both knew the situation we were in of trying to beat each other, and only one of us could win; we knew all of that," he said.

"But it never got nasty. And I think that's a really important thing, because I think it would have been very easy for last year to have got nasty and, well, if it really got bad, there probably would have been the question of whether one of us was even sat here doing this interview wearing orange," Piastri added with a laugh.

"The team dynamics, it's so important to protect going forward, and obviously, we've not quite started this year the way we want, but it would have been so easy for the battle of last year to make it look 10 times worse — and 10 times worse for a long time. So I think we both knew that as well."

'And then it just escalates...'

There were, however, still the expected flashpoints on track, namely in Canada, Singapore and Austin, with a couple of near-misses across the campaign, too.

But they were handled swiftly internally, and those moments were never allowed to fester and develop into a larger problem.

"We obviously had a couple of times where we came together, but there was never... I think in title battles, especially between team-mates that have turned sour, there's normally been some element of games or trying to hide stuff, or something like that," Piastri explained.

"I think for both of us, we're just not really like that. But also, we've seen that play out, as well. And it doesn't take much to get into that sequence of: 'I'm gonna do this.' Then the team-mate goes: 'Oh, well, okay, I know you did that, so I'm going to do this.'

"And then it just escalates. And I think, for both of us, even if we did have problems, I think they were never intentional."

The 25-year-old praised their team for managing the situation and preventing issues from getting out of hand, something that has happened in the past between team-mates.

He added: "Even if we felt like we'd crossed the line... we never had to confront each other, but I think we both knew if we'd crossed the line ourselves and went: 'My bad...'

"And the team held us accountable for that as well. So I think we had a good system to keep things friendly."