Piastri shuts down McLaren driver stance
Oscar Piastri has stressed that it is “super early” for McLaren to even contemplate making Lando Norris the team’s lead driver, despite the possibility that he could be in a title fight against Max Verstappen.
Norris has taken several points out of Verstappen’s advantage in recent races, with the Briton sitting 76 points behind ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Whilst this is a large deficit, it could be caught quickly should Red Bull continue to endure difficulties.
Of course, that deficit would be smaller, had Norris disobeyed team orders in Hungary last weekend and won the race instead of Piastri.
Piastri is having a solid season himself, although has not challenged Verstappen the same way Norris has.
With Norris being the only title outsider this season, some have speculated that McLaren should give the 24-year-old priority and make him its number one driver. Piastri is against this happening at the moment.
“No, I don’t think it should,” Piastri told select media including RacingNews365. “I think we’re just over halfway through the season, there’s a long way to go.
“I think the decisions we made in Budapest showed that in the team’s view, it’s important about keeping the relationship strong, keeping building the team and ultimately scoring as many points for the constructors’ as we can.
“Like I said, if Lando was in a position to win the championship, and they asked me to help, then I will.
“But I think halfway through the season with so many points still on offer, for myself as well, I think it’s still super early for that.”
Piastri open to team player role
Whilst Piastri believes it is currently too early for McLaren to introduce a number one and number two driver, he does accept that it might be required later in the year.
Both Piastri and Norris are treated as equals as things stand, although the Australian would accept supporting his team-mate later this year in a number two role if the drivers’ title is a genuine possibility.
However, the 23-year-old has made it clear that the constructors’ championship should be the Woking-based team’s priority.
“Yes, I know that is a possibility,” accepted Piastri. “Of course, I want to try and get myself up as high as I can. But ultimately, again, I race for McLaren, and they have the ultimate say.
“I’m going to try and make up as many points as I can. Of course, we’re still very early in the season, I’m a long way behind in the drivers’ standings, but I’m also not out of it.
“It doesn’t take that many races to be in the same same position that Lando is in. So let’s see how it plays out. If they need me to be a team player and try and help Lando, then of course, I’ll do that.
“But I think the biggest thing is trying to score the most points out of all the teams and win the constructors’. I think that’s definitely the biggest opportunity we have, and we’ll see if there’s others as well.”
