Norris Gets Full Backing from McLaren F1

Piastri claims his hard-earned Hungarian win, while Norris enjoys unwavering support from McLaren F1.

Oscar Piastri is convinced that his victory could have been smoother last Sunday in Hungary. The McLaren F1 driver notes that the decision to pit Lando Norris before him was made for safety reasons, to avoid the Brit facing off with rivals, yet it never threatened his success.

“In an ideal world, maybe. The final pit stop was done this way because we were first and second and there was complete confidence that we would switch positions. As far as I’m concerned, I feel like I earned it, I don’t feel like it was given to me or anything like that,” Piastri asserts.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t things I could still improve on. Ultimately, I put myself in a good position at the start of the race. And if we were really battling at that time, we wouldn’t have approached the pit stops the way we did. So yes, I think I deserve it.”

He emphasizes that the priority for him and Norris is to assist the team under all circumstances: “Of course, we always race for the team. We might not have been in a one-two scenario before, but we’ve been close to each other many times on the track and close to the podiums.”

“This specific situation was quite nuanced, and we might not have discussed it thoroughly, but I think it’s expected that we have a fierce but fair fight, and that we never make contact. We always keep in mind that some strategic decisions are made based on the team’s ambitions.”

“If we were in the middle of the race and had no one else to worry about behind, the order of pit stops would have been completely different. But we had cars to watch, which is why we swapped cars and why we changed cars again.”

Although he took points from his teammate in Hungary, Piastri says he’s ready to support him in pursuing a possible world crown, even though the focus is on the constructors: “I want to try to climb as high as possible, but I race for McLaren and they have the final say.”

“I will try to score as many points as possible. Of course, we are still very early in the season, and I am far behind in the drivers’ standings, but I am not out of the running. If they need me to play for the team and try to help Lando, of course, I will do it.”

“But I think the most important thing is to try to score more points than all the other teams and win the constructors’ championship. I think that’s definitely the biggest opportunity we have, and we’ll see if it happens.”

“All is well” within the team

The Australian will continue to do his best, and he assures there is no tension with Norris or with his director Andrea Stella: “I don’t think much changes, my way of working and trying to improve does not change.”

“I spoke with Lando and Andrea, I played Monopoly with Lando on the way back, so all is well! Of course, it’s a tough situation to live through in many ways. I think the team really wanted to secure a one-two finish, and I think at that time, it was a very sensible decision.”

Piastri also fully understands his teammate’s perspective: “Of course, it reversed the starting order, and I fully understand why Lando had so many questions about the reversal of the order.”

“He is leading a race and we all want to win. So, I understand both sides, but it was simply a new situation that we perhaps were not used to handling, and I think we have talked about it and all is well.”