Lando Norris says he doesn’t deserve to be given lead despite potential F1 title fight, as Oscar Piastri notes that he will help if needed later on.
The F1 Hungarian GP threw McLaren off-guard in terms of their drivers battling it out and another eye on the championship, especially on the driver side. They did secure the 1-2 which was solid for the constructors’ championship, but Norris lost out on drivers’.
The Brit is 78 points behind Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings, while McLaren is 42 behind Red Bull in constructors’. Considering that the team is closer to catch rather than driver and so the focus right now is to attain the constructors’ goal.
That aligns with Norris as well who feels that he doesn’t deserve to be given full priority at this stage of the year, even though they have crossed the halfway mark. “That [title battle] had nothing to do with Hungary, I shouldn’t have led the race, that’s the end of it,” he said to media. “Oscar got me off the line, he controlled it well, that was it.
“I shouldn’t have led the race and so people should then never have had the perception of ‘ah, the team are not biasing towards Lando’. If Oscar was leading the whole race there is absolutely zero reason why they should ask him to let me past. If you are thinking of it from a championship point of view, I don’t know when the point is of like if I’m 10 points behind, 15 points behind, whatever, at what point then do you go ‘can you help out a bit more’ or can you do this or do that?
“I don’t know when that point is and that’s not my decision. But when Oscar has led the whole race, controlled it well, and just from a strategy side they have boxed me first just to be safe, that’s just given the perception of something completely different. It shouldn’t do, internally we know it doesn’t. Oscar deserved to win and he did, as simple as that.”
Norris insists that he has to earn the chance to be prioritised than be given, simply because he is near to Verstappen. “I still need to earn it, I still need to go out there and drive quicker than everyone,” he said. “I don’t think that changes anything. I don’t know why it is now the point, all of a sudden, where you would have a bias over one?
“We’ve never had the bias in the team. Why now all of a sudden do I have a chance? I’ve had a chance the whole season and we’re only halfway through. We’ve got a hell of a long way to go. So maybe a little bit further down the line [the approach can change], but that time is to be decided,” summed up Norris.
Piastri, meanwhile, is open to aide Norris in the future if asked by McLaren. The Australian is well aware of the possibilities that he might be needed in the future to help out but like the Brit, he feels it is still early to push for drivers’ title which seems far apart.
The teams’ title is closer to push for which is what they are trying to do. “I mean I know that that is a possibility [that I am needed],” acknowledged Piastri. “You know, of course… I want to try and get myself up as high as I can but ultimately again I race for McLaren and they have the ultimate say.
“I’m going to try and make up as many points as I can, of course we’re still very early in the season and I’m a long way behind in the driver’s standings but I’m also not out of it and it doesn’t take that many races to be in the same position that Lando’s in. Let’s see how it plays out.
“If they need me to be a team player and try and help Lando, then of course I’ll do that. But I think the biggest thing is trying to score the most points of all the teams and win the
constructors’. I think that’s definitely the biggest opportunity we have and we’ll see if this happens as well.
“And I don’t think it [that Norris is named #1] should. I think we’re just over halfway through the season. There’s a long way to go. And I think the decisions we made in Budapest showed that, in the team’s view, it’s important about keeping the relationship strong, building the team and ultimately scoring as many points for the constructors as we can.
“Like I said, if Lando is in a position to win the championship and they ask me to help, then I will. But I think halfway through the season with so many points still on offer, for myself as well, I think it’s still very early for that.”
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