McLaren’s Lando Norris problem isn’t going away

It was all going so well for Lando Norris. 

Two straight wins had finally erased that frustrating feeling of never catching up to the top of the standings. He looked confident and in rhythm, finally driving like the face of McLaren’s future. But Spa was a gut check — and maybe the clearest sign yet that the future might belong to someone else.

Norris started the Belgian GP from pole, a statement in itself. But once the race settled in, the lead vanished fast. Oscar Piastri didn’t just outpace him — he looked like the more composed, dangerous driver all weekend. And when the checkered flag waved, the Australian extended his lead over Norris in the Drivers’ standings: 266 points to 250. Quietly but surely, Piastri has taken control.

That’s not just one bad race. Since the Canadian Grand Prix, Piastri has outscored Norris in five of the last seven weekends. He’s qualified better more often. He’s been clinical in traffic. And more importantly, he’s avoided the costly mid-race drop-offs that have haunted Norris all year.

What makes this tough for McLaren is the context. Norris has been their guy since 2019. He stayed loyal when the car was barely fighting for points. He was patient when others — Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo — came and went. He’s also just 25. This was supposed to be his era.

Piastri? He turned 24 in April and is in his second full season. And yet here we are, halfway through the calendar, and it’s Piastri who’s climbed to first in the standings. Not Verstappen. Not Hamilton. Not Leclerc. But Piastri.

This isn’t to say Norris has collapsed — far from it. He’s already passed his career high in wins, is top three in podiums this season and has genuinely looked faster than ever. But when the margins are this tight, and your teammate keeps beating you just enough to stay ahead...things start to shift in the garage.

McLaren’s got a problem. And it’s not that either of these guys is underperforming. It’s that both might think they deserve to be the lead driver.

If you’re McLaren, you’re walking a tightrope. Do you go full Mercedes circa 2016 and let both drivers battle it out, praying things don’t implode like Hamilton and Rosberg? Or do you quietly start building around one of them — and if so, how do you justify turning your back on Norris?

Piastri’s rise is organic, undeniable and frankly a bit uncomfortable. Norris was meant to be the franchise. Piastri was supposed to be the apprentice. Instead, it’s starting to look like the guy who was hired to learn might end up teaching.

It’s still early. There’s time for Norris to hit back. But right now, McLaren isn’t just fighting Red Bull and Ferrari — it's fighting its own reflection. And if it doesn't manage this right, the carefully constructed harmony could turn into chaos very quickly.