McLaren has proved the team to beat so far in 2025 with four wins from five races.
It holds a commanding position atop the constructors’ championship, while Piastri leads the drivers’ title from Norris by 10 points.
The Brit was tipped as the early favourite for this year’s crown.
Piastri has already won three times this season and, in recent races, has had the upper hand over his teammate.
According to Herbert, that situation could prompt Norris to make a Daniel Ricciardo-style exit from the team.
“There’s always a chance that Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri leaves McLaren because of the rivalry, but would they risk a good pairing?” Herbert told CoinCasino.com.
“Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull because of Max Verstappen’s emergence and gave it a shot at Renault.
“There will be a time at McLaren when they choose to favour one of the drivers, it’s impossible to keep it equal.
“There will be more trust placed in the one driver outperforming the other, hopefully, it’s a lesson learned from last season.”
Norris won the opening race of the season, surviving an off in the latter stages that dropped second-placed Piastri well down the order.
He then battled through a tough Chinese Grand Prix before finding himself stuck behind Verstappen in Japan.
In Bahrain, Piastri claimed pole and went on to command the race before winning from second in Saudi Arabia last time out, having out-muscled Verstappen at the opening corner.
By contrast, a mistake on his first Qualifying 3 run in Jeddah saw Norris crash out of the session, though he raced well to recover to fourth from 10th on the grid.
“Piastri seems to be controlling his own destiny at the moment and has the edge,” Herbert observed.
“Could Norris take the same path as Ricciardo? Possibly… but why would he do that?
“He’s fast enough to beat Oscar for this championship, it will be hard work for them both.”
Prior to Verstappen’s arrival at Red Bull, Ricciardo had been the squad’s leading light.
Though he continued to win races, it became increasingly clear that his Dutch colleague was viewed as the organisation’s future.
That prompted a move to Renault, a two-year stint that began to net returns towards the end of 2020 – by which point the Australian had already made the decision to join McLaren for 2021.
Despite a win at the Italian Grand Prix in his first season wearing papaya, Ricciardo never regained the form that took him to seven race wins with Red Bull, and his F1 career eventually petered out with RB following last year’s Singapore Grand Prix.
At McLaren, team bosses Andrea Stella and Zak Brown are working hard to ensure equality of opportunity for both drivers, with the focus on the team’s fortunes above those of any individual.
Both Piastri and Norris are on long-term contracts, with the latter understood to be in place until the end of 2027.
Norris has been with McLaren since his junior career, making his F1 debut in 2019 and remaining faithful to the Woking squad despite opportunities to move elsewhere.
Piastri, meanwhile, inked a new deal ahead of the Australian Grand Prix that will keep him in papaya until the end of 2028.
He, too, is loyal to the organisation that signed him from under Alpine’s nose – a show of faith that did not go unnoticed by the Melburnian and his management team.
Discussion about this post