While McLaren is on a high with Lando Norris and team boss Zak Brown preparing for a Title challenge, Oscar Piastri’s underperformance is going under the radar. Piastri was giving Norris a run for his money in his rookie season (2023) but this year, he hasn’t been the same. He is 63 points behind Norris in the standings, which seems like a long way away, but after his good performance at the Austrian GP Sprint Qualifying, Piastri is excited about what is to come.
“I think the position [P3] is quite good, obviously, but in the last lap there were a couple of corners I could tidy up”, said Piastri as he spoke about his Sprint qualifying lap according to Speedweek.
He added, “The gap to Max is not massive. I know there were a couple of big mistakes on that lap, so I think we’re definitely in the mix.”
Bring. It. On. #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/yV2FtuiF8J
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 28, 2024
In Austria, the last two corners at the Red Bull Ring are vital to put up a good lap time and Verstappen made the best use of his sector. Piastri, however, ran wide and rode the kerb a little too much, which cost him about two-tenths of a second.
Starting from the second row, Piastri could aim for a win on Saturday, which would add some much-needed confidence to the Melbourne-born driver. However, it is Red Bull’s home race, and Verstappen’s orange army will cheer on the Dutchman, who is the favorite to win.
Last week, Piastri had a poor result in Barcelona, where his P7 finish was five places behind that of Norris. However, Austria puts him right back towards the front of the grid, where he is always expected to be.
Oscar Piastri 2024 Performances shadowed by Lando Norris
Piastri started 2024 with mixed results. In four of the first eight races, he finished in the top five, which isn’t a great return. However, it includes a P2 in Monaco, where a win was very much within the cards.
Norris meanwhile, had a slower start to the year. He finished outside the top five in the first two races but has been unstoppable since.
In contrast to Piastri’s solitary podium finish, Norris has five, including a win in Miami. He also came very close to winning in Imola, Canada, and Spain,
Team Principal Andrea Stella recently explained how the setup Piastri was using for the car was keeping it on the edge. It gave the required performance but was not forgiving, which is why they have adopted a much safer approach for the coming races.
A change in setup could be the reason behind the Aussie coming close to Norris once again and for McLaren, it is vital because the team needs both its drivers to perform to successfully pull Red Bull into a Championship fight.
