“We’ll Have a Conversation”: Oscar Piastri Could Be Asked to Make Sacrifices for Lando Norris’ Title Shot

“We’ll Have a Conversation”: Oscar Piastri Could Be Asked to Make Sacrifices for Lando Norris’ Title Shot

Lando Norris got back-to-back pole positions in F1 for the first time as he pipped his teammate, Oscar Piastri with the fastest lap in Q3 for the 2024 Italian GP. Norris goes into the Grand Prix on Sunday with a chance to reduce the 70-point deficit he has to Max Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.

After the session concluded, McLaren CEO, Zak Brown sat down for a chat with former world champion, Nico Rosberg. The German asked Brown whether Piastri would now be told to support his teammate in his title fight and if team orders would become the norm at Woking.

Brown explained that up until this point in the championship, the team had no clear number one – number two driver situation. However, going into the last nine races of the season, the team will internally discuss and have a conversation with the Aussie driver.

Sky Sports F1 quoted the McLaren CEO as explaining, “We have a Drivers’ Championship, a Constructors’ Championship and we will see how things play out and keep everyone on their toes. Oscar has been very clear: he is happy to support the team. We will have a conversation behind closed doors and will share that matter when we decide ourselves.”

There would be a sense of urgency in the McLaren camp to establish a certain hierarchy until the end of the season. The lack of direct team orders had almost cost McLaren a huge embarrassment during the 2024 Hungarian GP.

Is Piastri ready to play second-fiddle to Norris at McLaren?

The fiasco at Budapest had been made up for by the #4 driver when he let Piastri back into the lead towards the last few laps of the race. Piastri would be appreciative of this fact and maybe ready to play the team game to further Norris‘ title ambitions.

Piastri has been very close to matching Norris’ performances. Last time out at the Dutch Grand Prix, the Australian couldn’t make the most of his pace and ended up off the first row of the grid. In the race as well, he had to sit out the podium after being stuck behind Charles Leclerc for a large part of the race.

However, for the Italian Grand Prix, he starts alongside his teammate. With Norris’ tendency to have bad starts — which has been evident in Shanghai, Barcelona, Budapest, and Zandvoort this season — Piastri has a golden chance to take the lead of the race on the first lap.

However, if that scenario pans out, McLaren will be once again in a tough situation just like the Hungarian GP. As a result, Brown will be wanting to sort out the pecking order before his drivers tackle turn 1 tomorrow.

Post Edited By: Aishwary Gaonkar
Italian GP Lando Norris McLaren Oscar Piastri Zak Brown

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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