McLaren’s new Senna vs Prost? Piastri reacts to explosive rivalry speculation

15:30, 31 Jul

byNorberto Mujica

The fight for the F1 Drivers' Championship is currently a head-to-head battle between both McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. Looking to the past, the Woking-based team faced a similar scenario with disastrous consequences when Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were in the same situation.

The titanic battles between Senna and Prost are etched firmly in the history of F1. It grew to be so intense that the team they were partnered at, McLaren, suffered intensely.

The atmosphere back then was so difficult that at one point, after designer Steve Nichols took his exit to Ferrari for the 1989, Prost followed suit for the 1990, unwilling to continue to cope with the toxic environment at the British team.

In 2025, though, McLaren sees themselves faced with a similar scenario. When confronted with this and the question if whether or not the team had addressed the Senna vs Prost situation with an eye on the current title fight, Piastri shared his point of view.

"I mean, not necessarily. I think everybody knows the history of Senna and Prost and that rivalry and other rivalries outside of McLaren."

"But I think you don't really need an example to kind of set the culture that we have at the moment," added the current championship leader, dissipating any references to the ferocious battle that engulfed McLaren in the late 80's.

'Piastri wants McLaren to remain at the top for many years to come'

For the Australian, then, the big picture slides into view, as a Senna vs Prost-like dynamic could ultimately deter the team from their current successful path.

"I think we're both very conscious that we want this opportunity of having the car and the team in this position for many years to come.

"The best way that we can help as drivers, apart from driving fast is by giving the team good morale and good confidence and just making it a good team environment."

"I think that's a very important thing for us this year and going forwards. So yes, we've all seen how it can go wrong, but I think we have a lot of reasons to push for it to not go wrong, obviously," concluded Piastri.