Oscar Piastri said carrying out orders from McLaren to help teammate Lando Norris win the world championship at Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was “not an easy decision for anyone”.
Norris is 12 points clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Piastri a further four ahead of Sunday’s season finale at the Yas Marina circuit, but the Briton needs a top-three finish to secure the title.
Piastri already had faint hopes of leapfrogging his two rivals for the title, but he suffered a further blow in Saturday’s qualifying when Verstappen beat Norris to take pole position, finishing third behind both of them.
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown confirmed exclusively to Sky Sports F1 on Saturday that the team would be prepared to carry out the team’s orders on Sunday if a situation arises where Piastri’s hopes end, but the Australian could help Norris.
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Highlights of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying.
Asked by Sky Sports F1 about the possibility of team orders being implemented if necessary, Piastri said: “We’ll still talk about that. We haven’t had any direct discussions about that yet.”
“But until Max or Lando cross the line in front of me, I’m still running, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Piastri was then asked if there was a larger long-term outlook to consider to keep relationships strong within the team heading into the 2026 season, and Piastri added: “Absolutely.”
“This is obviously not an easy decision for anyone, but again, we will discuss it before the race.”
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Craig Slater explains what Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris need to do to win the title in Abu Dhabi.
Piastri will start the race hoping to pull off an unexpected comeback, but admitted his best chance may be to sit back and wait for Verstappen and Norris to battle it out at the start.
Asked how he plans to approach the start, Piastri said: “I don’t really know yet and I’m not thinking that far ahead.
“But obviously to win a championship it takes more than just winning races. We’ll see what happens.”
As for whether it would be possible to watch fireworks between Verstappen and Norris, he added: “It’s possible! We’ll see how it’s done.”
Stellar: McLaren needs to offer championship options to both drivers
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said he expected a “complex race” but insisted the priority was to ensure both drivers had “options and possibilities” to win the title.
The main threats behind are Mercedes’ George Russell in fourth and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in fifth, both of whom could add drama by breaking into the top three.
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Anthony Davidson analyzes on Skypad how Max Verstappen led Lando Norris to pole position and created a spectacular finale in Abu Dhabi.
Stella told Sky Sports F1: “(Today) was a positive day in terms of the economics of the championship. It’s in our hands, but tomorrow we need to deliver a result.”
“We are not alone. Russell, Leclerc, it’s going to be a complicated race, but we need to do the best job possible and get a result so that Lando and Oscar have options and possibilities for the championship.”
Despite losing pole position to Verstappen, Stella was satisfied with the performance of both drivers.
“It’s the story of this season that Oscar and Lando are so close together,” he said. “This qualifier represents a very close performance between Oscar and Lando, and it’s only fair and good that they’re both fighting for the championship here.
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Lando Norris insists his thinking is focused on how to win Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and not on a possible matchup with title rival Max Verstappen.
“Verstappen and Red Bull were a tenth or two seconds ahead of us today, so it’s fair enough that they’re on pole position.
“I’m happy with the performance. I think Oscar and Lando did a good job of getting the best out of what’s available in today’s cars.”
“It wasn’t a simple qualifying. It was the toughest qualifying in terms of how compact the whole field was between the fastest and the slowest.”
Sky Sports F1 Abu Dhabi GP Schedule
Sunday, December 7th
9:10am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Grand Prix Sunday: Abu Dhabi GP Build-up*
1pm: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix*
3pm: Checkered flag: Abu Dhabi GP reaction*
4pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
The 2025 F1 season will begin this weekend with the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix being broadcast live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday’s race ending at 1pm (meeting time starts at 11am). Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
