No team orders: McLaren plans to 'let 'em race' as Piastri and Norris battle for F1 championship

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Just five races into the Formula 1 season and there's already a compelling championship battle with inner organization implications.

Oscar Piastri has aggressively shown he won't sit behind teammate Lando Norris, allowing Norris to become the anointed No. 1 driver at McLaren Racing. The Aussie did it by winning three of the first five races this season to take hold of the lead in the driver standings.

Norris, at one time McLaren's designated champion-in-waiting, sits 10 points back from Piastri with one victory on the season. And as F1 shifts to the United States for the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, McLaren boss Zak Brown insisted there will be no internal issues with this championship fight and, for now, he'll let it play out naturally.

“Let 'em race,” Brown vowed to The Associated Press. He will not designate a No. 1 and issue any team orders until a time comes in which one of the drivers has clearly separated himself in the title race.

“We'll only make that decision if it becomes clear, like it did last year at a certain point,” Brown said. “Until then they will get the same treatment. There may be instances when one has an upgrade that the other doesn't have yet, but that's the extent of it right now. We want to let them race.”

Norris earned his first career victory at Miami last year when he snapped Max Verstappen's two-race winning streak at the event staged around Hard Rock Stadium. Norris, hyped as McLaren's great hope, had picked up the derogatory moniker “Lando No Wins” when he arrived in Miami, where he promptly shed the label and had a rowdy South Beach victory celebration.

“I kind of envy Lando for getting his first race win here, because I’m sure Sunday night was definitely a cool one,” said rival Pierre Gasly. "It’s one of those races you want the Sunday to go well so you get a good reason to party on Sunday night.

How was Norris' party?

“I don’t remember,” he said with a sheepish grin.

Norris was then asked if he's concerned that Piastri has seized momentum by winning three races since Norris' lone victory.

“Not worried at all. He’s doing a good job and he deserves it. Nothing more than that,” Norris said. "I don’t believe so much in the momentum stuff. I’m doing what I can. I’ve clearly made some mistakes and not at the level I need to be, but I believe I can be at that level soon enough.

“It’s round six of 24. I’m not going to say that forever, but I know I need to get a move on and get into gear a little bit,” Norris continued. “The speed is there, the pace is there, the race pace is definitely there. It’s just one thing I need to tidy up. It’s a difficult thing, but I’m confident I’ll get it.”

Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari this season has been slow going for the seven-time champion and he's admitted the struggles shown so far could continue the entire year.

Hamilton is in his first year with Ferrari after 12 seasons at Mercedes. He won the sprint race in Shanghai with Ferrari but has yet to log a top-four finish in any Grand Prix. Hamilton trails teammate Charles Leclerc by 16 points in the driver standings.

He likened his current transitioning to when he first joined Mercedes.

“The first six months were tough getting attuned to working with new people. Obviously, the engineers I’m working with now are used to setting up a car for a different driver and a different driving style, and I’m used to driving a car with a different driving style,” Hamilton said. “So it’s a combination of a bunch of different things. I’m definitely working hard to adjust to this one for sure.”

He's also trying to adjust to spending more time in Italy, a country where he's struggling to learn the language but gorging on the food.

“Trying to stay off the pizzas and the pasta, which I’m not doing very well with,” Hamilton said. "I had like three pizzas in two days. I have my hookup – he keeps bringing me a pizza.

“Not living in Italy currently, but spending more time is still something I really want to try and figure out how to do through the year,” he continued. “My Italian is not really progressing, so I’ve probably got to throw myself more into the thick of it. But the team’s been well. Lots of changes, a huge amount of work has been going on from my first days there.”

F1 president Stefano Domenicali said he had no update to give on the series' ongoing efforts to find a television partner in the United States.

ESPN is in the final year of its current contract with F1 but informed the series it would not be renewing for 2026. ESPN reportedly pays Formula One Management an estimated $75 million to $90 million annually for the rights to air F1 content in the U.S.

Domenicali has been touting the importance of F1's positioning in North America, and the series has dramatically grown the last five years. F1 now races three times a year in the U.S. — and announced a 10-year extension with Miami on Friday that takes the race through 2041 — and five times total in North America. F1 next season will also have both Ford and General Motors in the series — Ford as a support partner with Red Bull and Cadillac as a factory-backed 11th team.

“There are discussions in place and there are several partners that are interested to talk,” Domenicali said Friday. “The good news is that there is a lot of interest and we need to make sure we are credible in the landscape where we know very well there are major league sports that are very, very important for this market. We need to find the right place with the right content to offer the supportive fans in the U.S.”

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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands stands in the pits during a practice session for the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race, Friday, May 2, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain during a practice session for the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race, Friday, May 2, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton, of Britain, rides a scooter as he leaves the Ferrari garage ahead of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain pulls in to the pits during a practice session for the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race, Friday, May 2, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Lando Norris, of Britain, answers questions during a drivers' press conference ahead of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia talks with his team after a practice session for the Formula One Miami Grand Prix auto race, Friday, May 2, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)