Shocked Lando Norris Only Had 3 Letters for Oscar Piastri’s Impressive Charles Leclerc Embarrassment at Miami

Last year Lando Norris talked about Oscar Piastri getting up to speed quickly and praised his teammate for pushing him more than ever before. Piastri’s pace was evident as well when McLaren improved their car last year. The only place where Piastri struggles seemed to be the race pace, and that was because of his poor tire management. The Australian however has now improved on the same and was praised by Norris for his move on Charles Leclerc at the Miami GP. 

The 2024 season started with Max Verstappen winning the first 2 races and Carlos Sainz winning the Australian GP because Verstappen retired from the race. It seemed as if Red Bull will continue its domination from 2023 but McLaren has shuffled things around. The British team brought upgrades to their car for the Miami GP and it seems to have put them near Red Bull’s pace. While the safety car played a part in Lando Norris’ win, he beat Max Verstappen on pure pace after the safety car and carved out a 7.6-second lead at the end of the race.

Looking at the other McLaren, Oscar Piastri was having a great race until his contact with Carlos Sainz, which put him toward the back of the grid. The Australian qualified in P6 for the race and fought Carlos Sainz for effective P4 for most of the race. However, the highlight of his race was fighting with Sainz’s teammate Leclerc and then overtaking the Ferrari in a spectacular fashion that left Norris awestruck as he said the three magic letters, “Wow”. 

Andrea Stella praised Oscar Piastri’s performance in Miami as he said, “His performance in the race was, again, very strong. Lando said something really nice before.” Revealing what Norris said, he added, “He said that by looking at Oscar overtaking a Ferrari, he got like, ‘Wow, we are actually there today’. So it was a realization for Lando himself. And Oscar could keep a strong pace in the first stint. So I think he comes out of this weekend with these sort of convictions which is something that we wanted to improve.”

It was an encouraging day for McLaren, despite Oscar Piastri’s incident with Carlos Sainz. The Australian acknowledged the same and spoke about his race and how it unraveled.

“Mixed Emotions” for Oscar Piastri after the Miami GP which turned Sour

McLaren brought major upgrades to the car for the Miami GP. However, Lando Norris got the full package whereas Piastri only got half of it. Yet, the Australian was rapid in the race. The contact with Sainz caused the front wing damage and forced Piastri to pit. Nonetheless, despite a poor result for him, he was ecstatic about Lando Norris’ win and the pace shown by his car before the incident with Ferrari.

Speaking after the Miami GP, Oscar Piastri explaining his contact with Sainz said, “A bit unfortunate with the Safety Car timing obviously, and then [it] just kind of unraveled from there.” Detailing how with the pace of the car he could’ve also made it to the podium, he added, “Obviously a really good day for the team, they deserved to have both cars up there. But yeah, a really encouraging day in terms of the pace and obviously to get a win on pace. [There was] a little bit of good fortune involved but Lando had the pace after, which I think is incredibly encouraging. So overall mixed emotions, but very, very happy for the team.”

What do you think? Does McLaren have it in themselves to challenge Red Bull for the remaining season?