Lando Norris admitted that since the arrival of Oscar Piastri at McLaren, he has received more challenges than in previous years. Oscar Piastri has adapted brilliantly to life at McLaren in his inaugural Formula 1 season and won the first podium of his career in Japan.
The Australian presents a new challenge to Lando Norris, who was able to consistently outperform Daniel Ricciardo for two seasons – sometimes by large margins. Although Norris has managed Piastr this year, the 23-year-old has been challenged by his new team-mate, an obstacle he insists is a positive for the team.
“I’ve said it before, I’m not afraid to say it, he pushed me more than he has in the last two years,” Norris told RacingNews365.com. “He just adapted to driving the car faster. And that’s why he pushed me more. “That’s good for me because you want someone who can push you, someone you can learn from. You’re always learning.” “Similar situation with Mercedes” Norris has beaten Piastr more often so far this campaign, but Piastr’s qualities have come through as he continues in F1. The Briton also believes other teams are experiencing a similar situation to his – citing the infighting at Mercedes.
“I’m sure Lewis [Hamilton] will learn a lot from George [Russell],” Norris said. “George is doing a very good job. “He beats him for a moment. And I’m sure Lewis looks at the data every now and then and says, “Damn, I’ve got to do this to be better.” “And it’s not like he can just say ‘yeah, I can do that.’ It just doesn’t work, It’s always hard for everybody, “Tighter” The new McLaren partnership comes amid a recovery from one of their worst starts to the season so far.
They are now in a tight race for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with Aston Martin, the regular early-season podium finishers. The Woking-based side are on their way to a new, more competitive era – and Norris believes Piastr’s views will help them get there, even if it puts extra pressure on Norris’ shoulders.
It’s good,” he said. “Of course, it causes more stress if you have a faster teammate. I have to deal with it. “I have to work a little harder to understand his driving style and the way he does things, because he does things that sometimes are not the most frequent – It was good for me, good for the team. similar comments, sometimes different ways. of driving, sometimes very similar. But our comments always tend to want the same things.
“We were brought up differently and drove different cars, different teams, so our comments are always different. “And it’s always good to have two perspectives. I think, “must be better for that,” and he says, “maybe it’s better for that.”
