Piastri and Norris went head-to-head for the title across a season that ultimately ended with the British driver 13 points ahead of the Australian, and two ahead of Max Verstappen.
Despite the intensity of the fight, Piastri insists the relationship between the McLaren pair never deteriorated into hostility, even with flashpoints in Canada, Singapore and Austin which included two on-track clashes.
“In all honesty, I don’t think it really changed,” Piastri said on the High Performance Podcast.
“I don’t think anyone really struggles to believe [that]; it’s very much down to how we are as people.
“I think we’re both quite good at separating the people and what happens on the racetrack versus off the racetrack.”
That ability to compartmentalise proved critical across a long season in which both drivers entered the final round still in contention, alongside Verstappen, who recovered to finish second in the standings.
While tensions might have been expected to rise, Piastri insisted their relationship actually strengthened compared to their early days as team-mates in 2023.
“Our marketing days that we had to do together, for example, were exactly the same… we get asked about our relationship as team-mates quite a lot,” he said.
“I think probably it was actually better at the back end of last year than it was, say the first six months [as team-mates, in 2023] that we were getting to know each other, just because we know each other more.”
Even so, Piastri acknowledged the situation carried real risk for both drivers and the team, with McLaren’s leadership, including CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella, prioritising a collaborative culture built on full data sharing, a philosophy that can come under strain in a title fight.
“We both knew the situation we were in of trying to beat each other, and only one of us could win; we knew all of that,” Piastri said.
“But it never got nasty. And I think that’s a really important thing, because I think it would have been very easy for last year to have got nasty and, well, if it really got bad, there probably would have been the question of whether one of us was even sat here doing this interview wearing orange!”
That awareness shaped how both drivers approached their battles on track.
Incidents were addressed quickly behind closed doors, with neither side allowing frustration to spiral into mind games or political infighting, scenarios that have historically defined famous teammate rivalries.
“We obviously had a couple of times where we came together, but there was never… I think in title battles, especially between team-mates that have turned sour, there’s normally been some element of games or trying to hide stuff, or something like that,” Piastri explained.
“I think for both of us, we’re just not really like that.”
He added that McLaren’s internal structure reinforced that approach, with both drivers remaining accountable for mistakes and an emphasis on transparency rather than escalation.
“Even if we felt like we’d crossed the line… we never had to confront each other, but I think we both knew if we’d crossed the line ourselves and went: ‘My bad…’” he said.
“And the team held us accountable for that as well. So I think we had a good system to keep things friendly.”
That culture extended to performance data, with Piastri admitting there was little room for secrecy even at the height of a title fight.
“It’s the way of modern teams anyway, especially at McLaren,” he said.
“That’s the way it’s going to be, whether I want it to be or not. It’s a very good way of going about things.
“You can’t hide.”
The payoff for that approach is now being seen, with Stella recently saying he believes the relationship between the pair has never been closer, while Piastri is adamant its foundations were laid during the 2025 title battle.
“The team dynamics, it’s so important to protect going forward,” he said.
“Obviously, we’ve not quite started this year the way we want, but it would have been so easy for the battle of last year to make it look 10 times worse, and 10 times worse for a long time.”
McLaren currently sit third in the constructors’ championship, nearly 100 points behind leaders Mercedes.
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