Lando Norris says there are boundaries that he and Oscar Piastri are aware of before they take the fight to other from the front row at the Australian Grand Prix.

McLaren started the 2025 season with an extremely strong performance during the final qualifying runs, with both drivers over 0.3s clear of Max Verstappen in third place. That has raised expectations of a straight fight between the pair if the weather stays dry on Sunday, and Norris says they have already discussed where the limits are between team-mates over the winter.

“There’s obviously been discussions, because we’re prepared,” Norris said. “We know we’re going to have a lot more of this kind of thing over the course of the season. There are clearly rules we cannot cross — both cars will always have to stay in the race and that kind of thing.

“We’re both competitors, that’s clear. We both want to fight for a win and fight for victories, that’s clear. But there’s just boundaries around the car. It’s just a little bit more space here and there. We’re free to race, we’re free to try and win races.

“What won us the constructors’ [title] last year was how we helped one another out, how we kept things clean, and there was order when there needed to be. But a lot of that was very much later in the season and when external things were happening. At the minute, there is none of that. It’s good, we’re both excited. Of course we’ll have our morning talks, but we’ll wait and see.”

Piastri is aiming to become the first Australian to win his home grand prix, but says he won’t let that additional incentive have an influence on the way he duels with his teammate if it is a straight battle between the two of them.

“We’re free to race each other,” Piastri said. “I obviously want to win the race as much as Lando does — I think he summed it up very well. I think in any team, not just McLaren, obviously the number one rule is to have no contact and to give each other space. That’s no different.

“Obviously if there’s opportunities for either of us to take advantage of certain situations, then we will. We’re free to do that. Ultimately, we are racing for the team, it’s a very important thing for us and we said numerous times last year, I think the teamwork that we showed as drivers but also as a team is what won us the constructors’ championship last year. I think it’s important to recognize that fact.”

After occasions when McLaren’s handling of its drivers was questioned last year, team principal Andrea Stella says it’s unlikely there will be specific rules handed out, but general guidelines that he wants the pair to follow.

“Looking at experiences from last year, I think I’ve already had the chance to say that in most of the cases I was very proud, very impressed by how diligent, by how positive the interaction between our two drivers was,” Stella said. “We had a couple of cases in which we needed to look into and see how we could have done better. Certainly Monza is one of those.

“We have done some important work over the winter. Lando and Oscar are fully supportive of our approach, that like you say is a combination of having some more… I think it’s more principles, because rules mean that you have to deal with a specific scenario.

“But in reality there are so many scenarios that while you can apply some principles and where possible some rules, ultimately we need to rely on the team and the drivers always remembering that the interest of the team is above each of us.”