Toto Wolff makes gloomy prediction for McLaren as the Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri rivalry intensifies

Toto Wolff is expecting McLaren's job of managing its drivers to get tougher after its Singapore Grand Prix controversy. With six races left in the 2025 F1 season, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are separated by 22 points in the drivers' championship.

In Singapore, tensions ran high at McLaren after Norris bumped into Piastri on the opening lap to secure P3. The Australian driver didn't find his teammate's move to be "team-like" and asked the team to take action for the incident. However, the pit wall decided that no action was needed, with Piastri's race engineer asking him to "control the controllables" in the race.

Norris, who finished on the podium in P3, didn't find anything wrong with his move, while championship leader Piastri, who secured P4, left the Marina Bay Circuit upset with the team decision, which he termed "not fair".

Lando Norris with Oscar Piastri at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who has witnessed intra-team championship battles go sour over the years, weighed in on the rivalry.

"I've seen that movie a few times," Wolff told Sky Sports (as quoted by Express). "I think how Andrea [Stella, Team Principal] and Zak [Brown, McLaren Racing CEO] are doing it is actually quite good. They're talking about it and managing it in a very transparent way. But it gets slim, and it's going to come to a situation where a few points will matter. Then they'll start to calculate and back-calculate, and I guess the elbows are going to come out a bit more. That's when it starts to get interesting."

However, Wolff reckoned the top management at McLaren seems to have the driver situation under wraps.

"These guys are on top of it. The management at McLaren is on top of it, and for us as fans, it's going to be interesting to watch," the Austrian added."

McLaren's rationale behind not reprimanding Lando Norris was that he collided with Oscar Piastri only because of his evasive maneuver to avoid crashing into Max Verstappen ahead. Unfortunately, the situation overshadowed McLaren's second consecutive constructors' championship victory.

Toto Wolff cheekily takes credit for McLaren's F1 constructors' championship victory

Toto Wolff with Zak Brown - Source: Getty

McLaren dominantly won its second consecutive F1 constructors' championship in Singapore after breaking a 26-year title drought in 2024. Moreover, they did it with six races still to go in the 2025 season.

Toto Wolff cheekily took some credit for the Woking-based team's title victory, highlighting how the Mercedes-powered McLaren cars' triumph was the second-best thing behind Mercedes winning the championship.

"If it's not us that can win the championship, then obviously a McLaren powered by a Mercedes engine is something good. Whatever our shortcomings, they were for sure not on the engine side. So yeah, a McLaren-Mercedes as constructors' champion is good," Wolff said.

George Russell brought home Mercedes' second race win of the season under the lights in Singapore. The Toto Wolff-led team stands second in the constructors' standings, and with third-placed Ferrari's performance deteriorating, they could finish the season in that order.

Edited by Yash Kotak