Norris concedes it will be ‘when’ not ‘if’ he and McLaren team mate Piastri come to blows

Lando Norris believes it is a case of ‘when’ and not ‘if’ he and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri come to blows on track in their battle for this year’s World Championship title.

The Briton sits 10 points behind his team mate after nine races, with Piastri leading home McLaren’s third 1-2 of the season last time out in Spain.

Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend, Norris was asked whether an intra-team fight was inevitable as the season progresses, with it looking likely one of the McLaren drivers will claim the title.

«We never said we’re going to avoid everything,» said Norris. «I think we’ve actually been quite open in saying at some point, something is probably going to happen.

Norris reflects on ‘strong three weeks’ and what that means for his championship fight

«We just have to be ready for that. I think both Oscar and myself know that, we’re competitive, we want to beat each other but the main thing is we stay strong together as a team. But everything is in the open, everything is obvious, everything is known between us.

«We both want to win, we both want to beat each other, but at the end of the day there can only be one person and that will be whoever performs the best over the course of the year.

«I think Andrea [Stella, McLaren Team Principal] said it, it’s not an ‘if’, it’s a ‘when’ and we’ll see when that time comes. But of course we’ll try and avoid everything as much as possible but it’s inevitable that it happens in racing.»

Going into the race weekend in Montreal Piastri has taken five wins this season, and only finished off the podium once in nine races, while Norris has taken just two wins.

Norris believes his team mate has «improved in most areas» compared with last season and that he needs to raise his own performances to challenge for the title over the remaining 15 races.

«He’s in his third season of F1, I remember in my third season you just come into the year a little bit more confident and with a bit more knowledge and just a more complete driver,» the Briton said.

«That’s what he’s done and he’s performing well, he’s driving incredibly well and at a very high level and deserves everything he’s been doing at the minute. It’s a good fun rivalry between us.»

BARCELONA, SPAIN - JUNE 01: Second placed Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren and Race winner — Who will come out on top between the McLaren drivers?

Piastri, meanwhile, believes that his battle with Norris stretches beyond this current season and that maintaining a strong relationship will be key for years to come.

«Clearly there’s competition and there’s a ‘want to beat each other on track’ [mentality] but we’ve said before, we don’t want just one opportunity to try and win a world championship each,» said Piastri in Canada.

«We want this to be the case for many years to come and the best way to protect that is by having a very strong team around both of us. We’re aware that whatever happens in the championship this year, or how things go, is much bigger than just this season and potentially defines our whole career.

«We’re very aware of that fact, of course we still want to beat each other and win a world championship but we know that there’s a bigger picture as well.»