Lando Norris has once again taken the way of snubbing Daniel Ricciardo with his recent appraisal of Oscar Piastri. The British driver said that his new teammate has been pushing him more than Ricciardo has done in the past “couple of years.”
This has come after Norris praised the young Australian after his performance in Azerbaijan. He said that Piastri has been handling the pressure really well in the team despite this being his rookie year.
The 22-year-old found himself with the Woking-based team after a hard battle with Alpine. In the process, he replaced his compatriot Ricciardo, who lost the favor of his team after two years of underperformance.
Lando Norris snubs Daniel Ricciardo for Oscar Piastri again
Speaking about Piastri, Norris said that he’s a down-to-earth and lovely guy, who works hard. The Briton also finds his characteristics a bit contrasting with that of Ricciardo, despite having cleared his relationship with his former teammate.
The Brit went on to add, as per Sky Sports, “He’s very fast at the same time, so he’s probably been pushing me a little bit more than in the past couple years.”
Team papaya. 🧡 #MiamiGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/2fvghPN9xZ
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 5, 2023
Even though he’s yet to be a serious threat to Norris, he’s very close to being one. Despite trailing the battle this year by 4-1 to his teammate, the average margin between them is just 0.067 seconds.
Following his arrival on the team, he received constant support from his older teammate Norris like this and specifically from boss Zak Brown. Brown, in fact, thinks the young Australian can become a world champion in the future.
Brown believes in his latest acquisition, Piastri
The McLaren honcho has recently revealed that he’s very much impressed by the performances the 22-year-old displayed in McLaren so far. Especially the way he battled his illness and performance in Baku this season.
Not felt great all weekend so frustrated not to get points but happy to be fighting for top 10 positions throughout. Time to recover ahead of Miami! #OP81 #F1 #AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/M5Rej9j8jH
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) April 30, 2023
Speaking on the young Australian’s future prospects, Brown stated that he has been very impressive even since he stepped in. He’s very mature at this age, focused, and technical.
Following this, Zak Brown further conveyed that he couldn’t have asked for a better driver combination than Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in McLaren. The only thing he needs now is a fast car, the 51-year-old concluded.
