Piastri-Norris boilover 'inevitable' in F1 title hunt

The Advertiser

17 hours ago

Lando Norris knows it's only a matter of time before his brewing rivalry with Oscar Piastri reaches boiling point.
Piastri heads the Formula One championship by 10 points over teammate Norris after leading the third McLaren one-two finish this season with a flawless race at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Australia's Piastri is in career-best form ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, shooting into title contention after banking five race wins.
Meanwhile, Norris - long viewed as McLaren's No.1 driver - has taken just two wins.
Well aware that his biggest competition is on the other side of the garage, Norris concedes an on-track confrontation is inevitable as the season progresses.
"We never said we're going to avoid everything," Norris said.
"We've actually been quite open in saying at some point something is probably going to happen. We just have to be ready for that.
"Everything is in the open, everything is obvious, everything is known between us.
"We both want to win, we both want to beat each other, but at the end of the day there can only be one person, and that will be whoever performs the best over the course of the year.
"I think Andrea (Stella, McLaren team principal) said it, it's not an 'if', it's a 'when' and we'll see when that time comes.
"We'll try and avoid everything as much as possible, but it's inevitable that it happens in racing."
Piastri and Norris wouldn't be the first F1 teammates to come to blows on the track.
In 2018 former Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo was involved in a high-speed crash with a then-young upshot Max Verstappen.
The two had banged wheels multiple times on the Baku City Circuit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, before Ricciardo eventually ran up the back of Verstappen at the end of the main straight.
Lewis Hamilton also had numerous volatile confrontations with former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, with Sebastien Vettel also locking horns with Mark Webber at Red Bull.
Piastri, managed by fellow Aussie Webber, conceded that Norris poses a larger threat than reigning four-time champion Verstappen.
Red Bull heavyweight Verstappen has won two races and is 39 points behind the McLaren pair.
"Lando is the main opponent, but I'm not going to rule out Max," Piastri said.
"The gap is obviously a bit bigger now, but it's not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination.
"We're going to keep pushing to try and make our car even faster, make myself even faster, but yeah, I think the main opponent, let's say, is Lando."
Piastri is keeping a lid on the championship hype after joining Hamilton and Ayrton Senna in holding eight consecutive podiums.
The 24-year-old has only missed the podium once this season - his home race in Melbourne.
"I mostly blank it out. I know exactly why I'm here. It's to try and win a championship," Piastri said.
"I think all the other stats that go along with that - yeah, OK, they're cool.
"The coolest one by far is putting myself in the list of world champions."
Lando Norris knows it's only a matter of time before his brewing rivalry with Oscar Piastri reaches boiling point.
Piastri heads the Formula One championship by 10 points over teammate Norris after leading the third McLaren one-two finish this season with a flawless race at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Australia's Piastri is in career-best form ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, shooting into title contention after banking five race wins.
Meanwhile, Norris - long viewed as McLaren's No.1 driver - has taken just two wins.
Well aware that his biggest competition is on the other side of the garage, Norris concedes an on-track confrontation is inevitable as the season progresses.
"We never said we're going to avoid everything," Norris said.
"We've actually been quite open in saying at some point something is probably going to happen. We just have to be ready for that.
"Everything is in the open, everything is obvious, everything is known between us.
"We both want to win, we both want to beat each other, but at the end of the day there can only be one person, and that will be whoever performs the best over the course of the year.
"I think Andrea (Stella, McLaren team principal) said it, it's not an 'if', it's a 'when' and we'll see when that time comes.
"We'll try and avoid everything as much as possible, but it's inevitable that it happens in racing."
Piastri and Norris wouldn't be the first F1 teammates to come to blows on the track.
In 2018 former Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo was involved in a high-speed crash with a then-young upshot Max Verstappen.
The two had banged wheels multiple times on the Baku City Circuit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, before Ricciardo eventually ran up the back of Verstappen at the end of the main straight.
Lewis Hamilton also had numerous volatile confrontations with former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, with Sebastien Vettel also locking horns with Mark Webber at Red Bull.
Piastri, managed by fellow Aussie Webber, conceded that Norris poses a larger threat than reigning four-time champion Verstappen.
Red Bull heavyweight Verstappen has won two races and is 39 points behind the McLaren pair.
"Lando is the main opponent, but I'm not going to rule out Max," Piastri said.
"The gap is obviously a bit bigger now, but it's not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination.
"We're going to keep pushing to try and make our car even faster, make myself even faster, but yeah, I think the main opponent, let's say, is Lando."
Piastri is keeping a lid on the championship hype after joining Hamilton and Ayrton Senna in holding eight consecutive podiums.
The 24-year-old has only missed the podium once this season - his home race in Melbourne.
"I mostly blank it out. I know exactly why I'm here. It's to try and win a championship," Piastri said.
"I think all the other stats that go along with that - yeah, OK, they're cool.
"The coolest one by far is putting myself in the list of world champions."
Lando Norris knows it's only a matter of time before his brewing rivalry with Oscar Piastri reaches boiling point.
Piastri heads the Formula One championship by 10 points over teammate Norris after leading the third McLaren one-two finish this season with a flawless race at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Australia's Piastri is in career-best form ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, shooting into title contention after banking five race wins.
Meanwhile, Norris - long viewed as McLaren's No.1 driver - has taken just two wins.
Well aware that his biggest competition is on the other side of the garage, Norris concedes an on-track confrontation is inevitable as the season progresses.
"We never said we're going to avoid everything," Norris said.
"We've actually been quite open in saying at some point something is probably going to happen. We just have to be ready for that.
"Everything is in the open, everything is obvious, everything is known between us.
"We both want to win, we both want to beat each other, but at the end of the day there can only be one person, and that will be whoever performs the best over the course of the year.
"I think Andrea (Stella, McLaren team principal) said it, it's not an 'if', it's a 'when' and we'll see when that time comes.
"We'll try and avoid everything as much as possible, but it's inevitable that it happens in racing."
Piastri and Norris wouldn't be the first F1 teammates to come to blows on the track.
In 2018 former Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo was involved in a high-speed crash with a then-young upshot Max Verstappen.
The two had banged wheels multiple times on the Baku City Circuit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, before Ricciardo eventually ran up the back of Verstappen at the end of the main straight.
Lewis Hamilton also had numerous volatile confrontations with former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, with Sebastien Vettel also locking horns with Mark Webber at Red Bull.
Piastri, managed by fellow Aussie Webber, conceded that Norris poses a larger threat than reigning four-time champion Verstappen.
Red Bull heavyweight Verstappen has won two races and is 39 points behind the McLaren pair.
"Lando is the main opponent, but I'm not going to rule out Max," Piastri said.
"The gap is obviously a bit bigger now, but it's not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination.
"We're going to keep pushing to try and make our car even faster, make myself even faster, but yeah, I think the main opponent, let's say, is Lando."
Piastri is keeping a lid on the championship hype after joining Hamilton and Ayrton Senna in holding eight consecutive podiums.
The 24-year-old has only missed the podium once this season - his home race in Melbourne.
"I mostly blank it out. I know exactly why I'm here. It's to try and win a championship," Piastri said.
"I think all the other stats that go along with that - yeah, OK, they're cool.
"The coolest one by far is putting myself in the list of world champions."
Lando Norris knows it's only a matter of time before his brewing rivalry with Oscar Piastri reaches boiling point.
Piastri heads the Formula One championship by 10 points over teammate Norris after leading the third McLaren one-two finish this season with a flawless race at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Australia's Piastri is in career-best form ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, shooting into title contention after banking five race wins.
Meanwhile, Norris - long viewed as McLaren's No.1 driver - has taken just two wins.
Well aware that his biggest competition is on the other side of the garage, Norris concedes an on-track confrontation is inevitable as the season progresses.
"We never said we're going to avoid everything," Norris said.
"We've actually been quite open in saying at some point something is probably going to happen. We just have to be ready for that.
"Everything is in the open, everything is obvious, everything is known between us.
"We both want to win, we both want to beat each other, but at the end of the day there can only be one person, and that will be whoever performs the best over the course of the year.
"I think Andrea (Stella, McLaren team principal) said it, it's not an 'if', it's a 'when' and we'll see when that time comes.
"We'll try and avoid everything as much as possible, but it's inevitable that it happens in racing."
Piastri and Norris wouldn't be the first F1 teammates to come to blows on the track.
In 2018 former Australian racer Daniel Ricciardo was involved in a high-speed crash with a then-young upshot Max Verstappen.
The two had banged wheels multiple times on the Baku City Circuit at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, before Ricciardo eventually ran up the back of Verstappen at the end of the main straight.
Lewis Hamilton also had numerous volatile confrontations with former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, with Sebastien Vettel also locking horns with Mark Webber at Red Bull.
Piastri, managed by fellow Aussie Webber, conceded that Norris poses a larger threat than reigning four-time champion Verstappen.
Red Bull heavyweight Verstappen has won two races and is 39 points behind the McLaren pair.
"Lando is the main opponent, but I'm not going to rule out Max," Piastri said.
"The gap is obviously a bit bigger now, but it's not insurmountable by any stretch of the imagination.
"We're going to keep pushing to try and make our car even faster, make myself even faster, but yeah, I think the main opponent, let's say, is Lando."
Piastri is keeping a lid on the championship hype after joining Hamilton and Ayrton Senna in holding eight consecutive podiums.
The 24-year-old has only missed the podium once this season - his home race in Melbourne.
"I mostly blank it out. I know exactly why I'm here. It's to try and win a championship," Piastri said.
"I think all the other stats that go along with that - yeah, OK, they're cool.
"The coolest one by far is putting myself in the list of world champions."