5 days ago
'Make It Worse': Oscar Piastri Not Regretting Refusal Of McLaren's 'New Component'
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Oscar Piastri has tested McLaren's new suspension but didn't adopt it, unlike teammate Lando Norris who won two races with it.
Star Australian racing driver Oscar Piastri has said that he tested McLaren's new alternative front suspension layout on the simulator, but, not having felt great, he decided not to adopt it in his car. Notably, his teammate Lando Norris did and has won the last two races.
With rain on the radar and Norris just eight points behind him, Piastri has arrived at Spa this week defending not just his top rank but the choice to not adopt the front suspension as well.
McLaren revised upright mounting points that altered steering to address Norris' early-season discomfort with front-end precision. While he took to it, his teammate Piastri didn't and across three races since, the former has two victories. The Aussie driver has none.
'It's not an update. It's just a different component. I tested it on the simulator. We've more updates coming. I want to have the clearest possible picture of the situation. It's a minor change," Piastri was quoted as saying by
While the Aussie driver has called the change minor, the impact of that decision has been major. But to Piastri, this is not a performance upgrade in the traditional sense.
'There are some things that make it worse. So, if it were simply a performance benefit, I'd add it without question, but that's not the case," Piastri said.
Team principal Andrea Stella and the McLaren technical group now face the extra thought of producing and managing two different car specs. In a title run this close, similar car steps would make logistics easy, simplify data correlation and reduce working hours in the factory.
What began as a slight change to help balance McLaren's internal performance is now coinciding with a swing in Norris' favour. He has cut Piastri's championship lead to only eight points.
As Formula One resumes after a mini-break, McLaren duo Piastri and Norris intensify their duel to succeed Max Verstappen as world champion.
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