Oscar Piastri Offered Advice to Lando Norris on Improving His Race Starts Before Italian GP

Poor race starts have affected several of Lando Norris’ outings in 2024. Except for the Dutch GP, Norris has failed to win any race where he started from the pole, despite having the fastest car on the grid. His teammate Oscar Piastri, however, had some words of advice to help improve his launches off the line.

Norris and Piastri appeared for an interview with Carfest ahead of the Italian GP where the host asked him what his plan for Sunday’s race would be. Norris, who was to start from P1, said, “Get a better start, for once. That’s the main thing.”

Turning to Piastri, the host asked if he had any advice for Norris. “Just drop the Clutch and send it. That’s pretty much it,” the Aussie replied. 

A simple suggestion and Piastri could not help but laugh out loud when the host asked him why Norris kept getting it wrong if it was that easy. “I was releasing the clutch too gently, I guess,” Norris admitted. 

Norris had to win the Italian GP to continue with his championship charge, as he looked to close the gap to Max Verstappen in the standings. Plus, the McLaren drivers locked out the front row in qualifying, and finishing 1-2 in the race would hand them an advantage over Red Bull in their pursuit for the Constructors’ title. Hence, holding on to the lead was important for Norris and the Woking-based team.

Piastri’s advice likely worked, but only up to a point, because although Norris held on to P1 when the race started, it was his teammate who would end up making things difficult for him soon.

Norris’ difficult Italian GP weekend 

Piastri overtook Norris with a sensational move on the first lap of the race itself, which caught the latter off guard. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was just behind, saw an opportunity to overtake a vulnerable Norris and did so without any resistance.

From P1, Norris dropped down to P3. Piastri’s move also compromised McLaren’s chances of executing a one-stop strategy, as both drivers had to push hard—Piastri to maintain his lead and Norris to chase down Leclerc and reclaim second place.

McLaren had to pit twice, which also cost them track position, and Leclerc managed his tires perfectly to guide the SF-24 to victory in front of the Tifosi at Monza. To make matters worse for Norris, he could not get P2 back from Piastri either and had to settle for the third step on the podium.