Toxic Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso feud shaping new McLaren tactic as boss steps in

Zak Brown made headlines after explaining that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will be consulted about team celebrations when the 2025 Drivers’ Championship title fight is decided. McLaren’s gentle approach to driver management split opinion, but Brown’s continued prioritisation of driver morale and team cohesion is a welcome change from the team’s past, and shows that lessons have been learnt from the brutal feud that clouded Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s stint as team-mates in 2007.

"We'll just sit down and actually have a conversation and go ‘Right, one of you is going to win, it's going to be the best day of your life - one of you is going to lose, how do you want us to handle that?” Brown told The Race. “You want us to jump up and down and celebrate this guy [who] won?'

"We're fully aware and sensitive to how you celebrate that situation. And I think we'll just sit down with the drivers and come to an agreement: ‘One of you is not going to be the champion. How do you want us to act? That's the way we think. It comes back to thinking about our people."

Norris and Piastri find themselves in a unique situation in 2025. Both drivers are chasing their maiden titles, have dominant machinery underneath them, and know that, with a regulation refresh coming at the end of the year, they may never get this opportunity again. And yet, despite the intensity of the battle, there have been no shaky moments for the duo.

The same could not be said for McLaren’s last truly great driver pairing. Hamilton and Alonso spent just one season alongside one another, but the duo, who have combined for nine World Championship titles, made a lasting impression.

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In a more extreme version of Piastri’s ascent within the McLaren squad, Hamilton arrived on the scene as a rookie, but was unwilling to play second-fiddle to his established colleague. After the Brit’s rip-roaring start to the campaign, Alonso accused the team of favouring his rival in Canada and Indianapolis.

Then, in Hungary, Alonso blocked Hamilton in the pit lane in an infamous moment that spelt the beginning of the end for the pairing. The Spaniard blocked his rival in the pit lane, sitting motionless in his stall, stopping him from completing a final qualifying run. From there, tensions only heightened.

When the chequered flag waved in Brazil, Hamilton and Alonso were tied in the standings, finishing one point behind world champion Kimi Raikkonen. With Brown and team principal Andrea Stella’s considerate approach, there is no chance of a repeat with Piastri and Norris in 2025.