As the old adage states, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
That could be good or bad for McLaren in the world of Formula 1 these days.
The top two racers in the world championship hunt are both employed by McLaren following the latest round in Barcelona, where the duo scored a 1-2 finish. Teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are starting to look a lot like a modern version of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, circa 1988 and 1989.
McLaren's 1-2 punch pushing each other like great tandems
The Prost–Senna rivalry, or Senna–Prost rivalry, is widely regarded as one of the fiercest rivalries in the history of the sport. The duo together won seven of nine world titles between 1985 and 1993, including two as teammates at McLaren those two seasons.
While the legendary pairing eventually fell out of favor with each other, Piastri and Norris don’t appear to be feuding … yet. Norris, 25, has been groomed to be the No. 1 driver for McLaren, but don’t look now, as Piastri, 24, might very well be the better of the two drivers as both are seeking their first F1 crown.
Piastri is now the F1 points leader. He struggled to extract performance out of his McLaren last year but dismissed those demons last week with a brilliant lap to take pole. In the largest pole margin of the season (0.209 seconds), he outqualified Norris for the fifth time. And we all know, your biggest rival in racing is first and foremost your teammate. Piastri only outqualified Norris four times last season.
The younger driver then converted P1 into his fifth Grand Prix victory of the calendar, and first since Miami, doing so in historic fashion, no less. The Australian is now the third McLaren driver to score eight straight podium finishes. That illustrious company includes Senna in 1988 and the now seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton when he won his first back in 2007.
Perhaps, Piastri, not Norris, is the Senna in the modern Prost-Senna rivalry that is developing. Prost would go on to win four titles; Senna three – all at McLaren – before his racing death at Imola with Williams in 1994.
Piastri extended his championship lead to 10 points over Norris in Spain. He also now holds a 49-point lead over four-time reigning champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull. It really has been some month of racing for the young driver, starting in Miami.
Senna won his first title in 1988. Could this by the year we see a McLaren driver break through for their first title again?
It sure looks that way. It just might not be Norris when it’s all said and done.
“Of course it is an interesting dynamic, but my relationship with Lando at the track, and away from the track, is very similar to how it has been, and, if anything, we get along better now than we ever have,” Piastri told the PA Media news agency.
“The way we work together to give ourselves the best chance of success is still as strong as ever, and that has been a strength from the moment we have been teammates. We get along very well. That hasn’t changed. I don’t expect it to change. But obviously we are both trying to win a world championship and only one of us can do it.”