McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has outlined his relief and delight at how well Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have worked together, something that was a concern after the 2025 season.
Norris and Piastri battled for the drivers' title throughout last season, with the former ultimately securing his maiden world championship.
Piastri had been the favourite coming out of the summer break before enduring a shocking second half of the season and falling to third behind Norris and Max Verstappen.
Given the tension that built, as expected when fighting for a title, it would have been no surprise if Norris and Piastri's relationship had taken a dive.
According to Stella, that has not been the case, with the pair working better together than ever before and Piastri leaning on the team more.
Discussing Norris and Piastri's partnership this season, Stella said: "Another aspect I’m really enjoying about our drivers is the way they’re working together."
"It wasn’t a given that, after last year – when they found themselves battling for the world title right up to the final race – the harmony they’d built would remain intact.
"Yet not only has this not changed, but the relationship between them and with the team has actually become even stronger.
"And whilst this might, in a sense, have been expected of Lando – given that he was ultimately the one to become champion – it was not quite so predictable for Oscar, who, instead, has relied even more heavily on the team to accelerate his development, both on and off the track."
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