Piastri Acknowledges Championship Fight with Norris
The Formula 1 championship leader, Oscar Piastri, has admitted that the title fight is mainly focused on him and his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris. The Australian driver leads Norris by 16 points before this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race before the August break. Max Verstappen, four-time champion of Red Bull, occupies third place in the general classification, a considerable distance of 81 points from the leader, with 11 races remaining. Given McLaren’s current supremacy, this difference seems difficult to overcome.Previously, both Piastri and Norris, as well as McLaren’s directors, had avoided talking about such a clear dominance, but the evidence becomes difficult to ignore. “Every weekend, or at least in the last few, it’s been Lando and me. I hope the competition remains strong and that they put up a good fight, especially on certain tracks for the rest of the year,” commented Piastri. “We don’t know if that competition will come from Max, Ferrari, Mercedes or someone else. I don’t worry too much about what happens. I just try to win every race and extend the lead.” Piastri achieved his first Formula 1 victory at the Hungaroring last year, while Norris secured pole position. McLaren has achieved six one-two finishes in 13 races, with Piastri winning six times and Norris four. Verstappen has obtained two victories. The team has scored 516 points and is already 268 points ahead of Ferrari, which is in second place. “Hungary has historically been a good track for us as a team, especially in the two years I’ve been with the team. I hope we will be strong again this weekend,” Piastri stated. The 24-year-old driver expressed his confidence in himself to emerge victorious at the end of the year. “Not all weekends have been perfect, but there aren’t many weekends in my life that have been,” he said. “I’m just trying to have a solid and consistent year, which will ultimately be important. The pace in the last few weekends, especially in Spa, has given me a lot of confidence and I am very proud.” “I am more than capable of continuing like this for the rest of the year. I trust that I can do it, but it won’t be easy.” When asked what it takes to win the title as the competition intensifies and if consistency helps, Piastri replied: “The way to win races at the end of the season is the same as at the beginning: you must be faster than everyone around you and make as few mistakes as possible.” “It’s great to be consistent, but if you’re constantly getting beaten, then that’s not the recipe for a championship.”“I guess so,” Piastri replied to reporters when asked if the fight came down to two drivers.
Oscar Piastri
