Oscar Piastri says he doesn’t count on McLaren teammate Lando Norris to “turn out to be Superman” now that he has gained the Components 1 world championship.
Norris gained his first F1 world title by ending third behind Piastri and Crimson Bull’s Max Verstappen on the last race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 26-year-old Briton trailed Verstappen by simply two factors, however Piastri led the world championship standings by way of 15 races and was Norris’ foremost rival for many of the 12 months.
Nonetheless, whereas Norris was gaining momentum to take management of the world championship at an important stage of the season, Piastri misplaced his grip on the title race after six consecutive races with out a podium end.
Piastri doesn’t count on Norris’ victory to alter his teammates, however he’s demanding that he be handled the identical because the newly topped world champion subsequent season.
“No, I do not assume so. I do not assume it adjustments something,” Piastri stated. “For me, he clearly had a fantastic season this 12 months and deserved to be a champion, however he is nonetheless Lando Norris, he is not Superman.
“So I do not assume that can change the scenario. Clearly I count on full equity and equality from the crew going ahead and I’ve no issues that that can change.”
“However yeah, I believe Lando had a really sturdy season this 12 months and did a greater job in the long run.”
Will concord be maintained?
Regardless of their rivalry inside the crew, Piastri and Norris remained surprisingly harmonious and have been in a position to keep away from any deterioration of their relationship.
“I believe this can be a testomony to the best way we strategy racing,” Piastri stated. “Clearly, competing for each the constructors’ championship and the drivers’ championship with two very evenly matched drivers is just not straightforward. However in the long run, it was an issue we knew we’d face.”
“On the finish of the day, I believe there’s numerous good that got here out of it. There are undoubtedly some tough moments and tensions, however I believe each Lando and I’ve turn out to be higher drivers by pushing one another to the restrict. Generally it was uncomfortable for everybody, however in the long run, yeah, it was an excellent factor.”
“We have had numerous discussions all 12 months, and we’ll in all probability have conversations within the offseason about issues we need to perform a little in another way for subsequent 12 months. However on the finish of the day, I believe they’ve given us nearly as good an opportunity as a crew can to compete pretty for a world championship, and that is all you possibly can ask for.”
