Norris 'nervous' over title scrap with Piastri

LANDO Norris has admitted his McLaren team will be “nervous” about the prospect of him going head-to-head with team-mate Oscar Piastri for the world championship.

- PHILIP DUNCAN

Norris, 25, and Piastri, 23, both have one victory each after the opening two rounds of the new Formula One season with McLaren holding an early advantage over their rivals.

The British team, bidding to deliver their first world champion since Lewis Hamilton claimed his maiden crown back in 2008, have said their drivers are free to race each other.

And, although Norris has claimed McLaren are prepared for an intra-team duel, he acknowledged that there could be bumps along the road.

"We were free to race in Australia and here in China so I am sure we are going to have some closer racing at some point," said Norris, who is eight points clear of Max Verstappen and 10 ahead of Piastri in the standings ahead of the next race in Japan a week on Sunday.