During their two-year stint as McLaren teammates, Lando Norris regularly outperformed Daniel Ricciardo. However, ever since Oscar Piastri joined the team replacing Ricciardo, the battle between the drivers has become a lot closer. Norris still holds an edge over Piastri, but the Aussie keeps making the former look over his shoulder during races. McLaren CEO Zak Brown now gives his perspective on what Piastri can do to get closer to his much more experienced teammate.
On the Drive to Wynn podcast after the Chinese GP weekend, Brown says (as seen in a video posted by McLaren Fan TV on X),
“I think it’s experience. These tires and race management is very difficult. So, if you look at Oscar’s qualifying, he is very close to Lando and outqualifies him. And in the race, he still has a bit of work to do but it’s less about out and out pace, it’s about tire management and that’s really just something you get with experience.”
Brown also alluded to the fact that Norris has been driving for McLaren much longer than Piastri. Having made his debut in 2019, Norris has a “five-year headstart” compared to Piastri, whose rookie season was 2023. Norris, who was also a part of McLaren’s driver development program understands the inner workings of the team and the car in a much better way than Piastri.
The McLaren boss still gave Piastri some scope of leniency, given it is only his second year in F1. He cited that the Melbourne-born driver has shown that he can beat Norris, especially in qualifying. Brown believes that as Piastri gains more experience, his race craft and tire management will improve to his teammate’s level.
Where does Oscar Piastri stand relative to Lando Norris?
For McLaren, the start to their 2024 season has been brisk. Lando Norris got them on the podium twice already but Piastri hasn’t finished in the top three yet. Regardless, his performances have been good and he has two P4 finishes to show for it.
Norris is 20 points ahead of Piastri but that doesn’t tell the entire story of the battle between the McLaren duo. On a deeper level, the gap between the two drivers (in terms of performance) is close, as witnessed in almost every session, especially Qualifying.
Where Piastri is falling short is his race pace. Still, the Aussie can hold his own to back his teammate’s headline-grabbing performances. Barring the Chinese GP where he suffered damage, Piastri has been right on Norris’ tail to maximize the team’s overall results throughout the campaign.
On the other hand, Piastri has something Norris doesn’t. The latter, despite being in F1 for five years now, hasn’t won an F1 race whereas Piastri did so in his debut season. He won the Qatar GP Sprint in 2023, something Norris finds difficult to digest.
