Oscar Piastri is already keeping McLaren F1 Team team-mate Lando Norris on his toes despite the young Australian being a rookie in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2023.
Piastri has been the only McLaren driver to advance into the final segment of Qualifying during the opening three races of the season in Saudi Arabia, and although Norris has scored more points, the young Briton feels his team-mate has been keeping him honest.
Both drivers scored their first points of a difficult start to the season during the Australian Grand Prix, with Norris sixth and Piastri eighth, meaning the team jumped from the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship up to sixth in one race.
“He’s done a very good job,” Norris is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. “I think he’s understood the car well, it’s obviously not an easy car to drive.
“For sure, I think he did a very good job in Saudi. He got into Q3, the only Q3 this year so far. So, he’s keeping me on my toes.”
Norris also has welcomed the way Piastri has given feedback to the team since his arrival, feeling it is more aligned to the feedback he has given his engineers compared to the past few years when he had Daniel Ricciardo as his team-mate.
“Our comments are probably a little bit more in line than what they have been in previous years,” said Norris. “Which again, is a good thing, just because it’s better a dynamic for keeping the focus for the engineers, the aerodynamicists, the rest of the team back in MTC.
“We kind of want the same anything in general and I think that’s a good thing. So, from both sides, the off-track and the on-track, it’s a good start and he’s keeping me on my toes.”
