Oscar Piastri sent a clear message at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday after McLaren locked out the front row in Saturday’s qualifying. He overtook his teammate Lando Norris — who is still in a championship fight with Max Verstappen — for the race lead on the very first lap and finished the race ahead of him in P2.
This move led Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle to believe that Piastri is not at all interested in supporting Norris in the drivers’ championship. Before the Monza race, Norris was 70 points behind championship leader Max Verstappen, and he needed every point he could get to stay in the title fight.
LAP 1 / 53
PIASTRI TAKES THE LEAD!!
The Australian sweeps around Norris at the della Roggia chicane to lead the field!!
Leclerc also squeezes past into second, sparking jubilation in the stands! #F1 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/ViptiU4v5v
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 1, 2024
McLaren did not intervene with any team orders to favor Norris during the race either. McLaren CEO, Zak Brown commented before the race started that have two number-one drivers and they are happy for them to race it out at Monza — which was definitely not optimal for Norris’ championship bid.
Thus, it saw Piastri overtake the British driver at the Della Roggia chicane on the opening lap itself. While Norris has developed the tendency to have bad starts, he had covered Piastri well into the first chicane. It was the Aussie’s brilliant move that earned him the Italian GP lead.
After the race, Brundle stated, “I think we got confirmation there that Piastri has zero interest in Lando Norris’ world championship.“
It is pertinent to note that Brown had mentioned after qualifying that he might have a conversation with his drivers about their dynamic in the Grand Prix on Sunday. However, his comments on Sunday did not seem like McLaren thinking smartly to make Piastri play second fiddle to Norris for the championship’s sake.
Could McLaren’s indecision about Piastri and Norris help Verstappen?
During the Italian GP weekend, the Aussie driver had already made it clear that his focus in on winning the race. He stated that him winning the race is in the best interest of McLaren winning the constructors’ championship — which is a much closer fight at the moment.
Piastri also mentioned that the current gap in the drivers’ championship between Norris and Verstappen is “very big”, per Autosport. So, he feels it is “very early” for him to go on the back foot and support his teammate. The 23-year-old added, “Ultimately, I want to go out and win races as well. But I know that if I do get called upon, then I’ll be happy to help out.”
Meanwhile, McLaren have not resorted to team orders and tried to keep things equal between their drivers. Just like Brown, team boss Andrea Stella claimed that they want to keep it fair and not prioritize one driver over the other.
: Andrea Stella confirms the team will not prioritize Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri in the championship fight for now, emphasizing “integrity and fairness” in their approach. Stella highlighted that Norris must continue performing at a high level to earn his position on… pic.twitter.com/fXNJcsKCMR
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) August 25, 2024
However, this may not help the #4 driver as Piastri could snatch crucial points away from him and it eventually benefits Verstappen, who is currently struggling a lot with the RB20. So, this is the time that McLaren can make the most of the Dutchman’s poor form and reduce his lead as much as possible. If not, Verstappen could somehow manage to defend his championship, much to Norris’ disappointment.
