Oscar Piastri landed in F1 with nothing to show other than a trophy cabinet full of F2 wins and titles and a reputation as one to watch for the future. However, Formula 1 is known for ruining the very best reputations, as such Oscar Pisatri will either rise to the top or swim with the fishes. When Lando Norris arrived as a fresh faced rookie for McLaren he did what only the very best F1 drivers can do, he made an immediate impression showing raw speed and made very few mistakes. Norris is a top elite driver who is world champion material. To underscore how good he is, Norris bull-whipped his former teammate Daniel Riccardo into exile, and Riccardo is a top elite F1 driver and race winner.

So Riccardo’s replacement has to get closer to Norris than Riccardo managed. It appears that Piastri, the quiet rookie-man of F1, is doing the job expected of him. Piastri pushed the more experienced Norris hard in Saudi Arabia and Melbourne. The problem is both are better than the equipment McLaren has designed and developed. The 2023 McLaren is off the pace, but the caliber of having two top drivers has earned the team valuable points.

Norris is feeling the heat of having Piastri pushing him hard in qualifying and the race, he acknowledged as much in a recent media interview.

Lando Norris:

“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. He’s done a very good job. I think he’s understood the car well, it’s obviously not an easy car to drive.”

“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. 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.”

“Our comments are probably a little bit more in line than what they have been in previous years.”