Piastri Set to Compete with Norris, Prioritizing Team Unity

McLaren is back in the race for the world championship.

They are currently 42 points behind Red Bull but were one of the top teams alongside Mercedes before the summer break. Oscar Piastri knows what he and Norris need to do to achieve McLaren’s goal.

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“It’s certainly our goal,” Piastri said in an interview with Brobible. “We’ve closed the gap to Red Bull a lot since Miami, and it would be silly not to aim for it.”

Piastri and Norris have been getting along well since Piastri joined in early 2023. But things got tense during the Hungarian Grand Prix when Piastri took his first win. He led most of the race, with Norris close behind. McLaren decided to pit Norris first, which allowed him to get ahead of Piastri. After some debate over the team radio, Norris gave back the position to Piastri late in the race.

Piastri, managed by Mark Webber, said that he and Norris can’t let this affect their chances at a title. “I think we just have a very healthy culture in the team. I’m not naive. I know that when you fight for wins and championships as a driver, then you want to do everything you can, if possible.”

Fans might wonder if this friendly rivalry will help or hurt their chances.

“It would be naive of us and immature of us to really start focusing all our attention on each other because we’ve still got a lot of other competition out there,” Piastri added.

Even though McLaren is second in the standings, they are more worried about Mercedes and Ferrari catching up than looking ahead. Mercedes has won three of the last four races, and Ferrari isn’t far behind either.

What do you think? Can McLaren keep up their momentum?