Nico Rosberg fuels debate over McLaren ‘bias’ towards Lando Norris

Nico Rosberg has suggested that McLaren naturally lean towards Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in the F1 title fight.

Norris and Piastri both remain in contention for this year’s F1 championship.

The British driver holds a 12-point lead over Max Verstappen ahead of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and a top-three finish would seal the title.

Piastri is the outsider, sitting 16 points behind Norris in the standings.

The Australian led the way for much of the season before an unusual drop-off in recent months. His 34-point buffer over Norris quickly disappeared.

Piastri crashed out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a nightmare weekend, and his title push was further harmed by a run of races where he struggled for pace.

His slump has sparked speculation among some fans about potential sabotage or McLaren favouring Norris, given his long tenure at the team since 2019.

Rosberg says he has heard “voices” hinting McLaren favour Norris.

“For Oscar, it is a very tough situation,” Rosberg told Sky Sports News. “He was the leader throughout most of the championship and looked like the dominant force, and then Lando has come back.

“It’s also a British team, and you sense that, I’m sure, without knowing exactly, but I heard some voices like Mark Webber being there and being the only Australian, and everybody is kind of a little bit towards favouring Lando as a world champion.

“And, of course, I think Lando in general, for everybody, also the fans, he’s the most popular driver, like on a fans’ survey, he’s number one ahead of everybody else. And I’m also sure that the team, internally, he’ll be pretty popular.

“So, it’s just a very hard situation for Oscar to be in. And, naturally, you start to have bad thoughts, also that, ‘Hey, maybe the team prioritised the other driver in that moment’, or something. It’s inevitable. So, it’s a tough one, and it won’t help going forward.”

Praise for Norris

Rosberg also heaped praise on Norris for how he has turned his season around.

After a shaky first half of the year, Norris has cut out his errors - particularly in qualifying.

“Lando has done such a great job in improving himself,” he added. “It was Lando’s weaknesses that, kind of, let Oscar get away in the middle of the season, and he’s just improved himself.

“He’s really refocused, reduced his errors, and that’s super impressive. So, hats off to Lando.”