Piastri: Setbacks with Norris Fuel Growth

Piastri discusses how his fluctuating performance against teammate Norris highlights the value of challenges in fostering improvement.

Oscar Piastri remains undeterred, even though his teammate Lando Norris is currently the more competitive of the two McLaren F1 drivers in 2024.

Norris is now considered by many to be a genuine contender for the World Drivers’ Championship title against Max Verstappen this year, while the Australian, despite being impressive in only his second year in Formula 1, sometimes appears to lag behind on certain weekends.

“Setbacks and lows are necessary for improvement,” Piastri responds about his fluctuating performance against Norris.

“To reach one’s peak, one must learn from the lows. It takes time, but I am competing against very experienced drivers. Lando is 24 and thus one of the youngest, but he already has five years of F1 experience.”

Norris now finds himself competing on the track with three-time world champion Max Verstappen, and Piastri is confident he also has that potential.

“I haven’t encountered Max much on the track, as he is so dominant. I know he fights hard, but that doesn’t bother me.”

“I want to beat everyone. Max still doesn’t know much about me, and that could be an advantage.”

Another reason for Piastri’s optimism is how quickly McLaren has managed to reestablish itself as a true top team.

“We wanted to close the gap with Red Bull, but we were aiming for the end of the season.”

“We have made significant gains, especially in slow corners. Red Bull seems less effective on slower circuits with lots of curbs and bumps. But there are currently no tracks where we are at a disadvantage.”

“And it helps us right now that Sergio (Perez) is scoring so little. That means Max has to do it all by himself. So it definitely helps to have two cars in front.”