“If This Is Our Pace”: Oscar Piastri Given Insulting Ultimatum as Lando Norris Seeks Redemption

The McLaren rookie, Oscar Piastri has rained fire in the paddock with his spectacular race craft. Winning the first race for McLaren in the past two years in Qatar, albeit in a sprint, Piastri shot up as the leading driver leaving Lando Norris in a bit of a huff. Dejected, Norris questioned his talent as an F1 racer. “Rosberg retired after his first championship, I will retire after my first win,” the McLaren driver is on the longest podium run without a win. Despite not looking the most competitive ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix, he has managed to pull some tricks from up his sleeve, reminding the British Constructor why they signed him in the first place.

The British Constructor after a mega resurgence, made an unfortunate strategic error during the qualifying. However, as Norris held the reins of his McLaren, he showed the Mexican crowd, the team boss, and his teammate ‘who is really in charge.’

Despite being critical, Lando Norris brings it home before Piastri at the Mexican GP

If we could take any lessons from the Mexican Grand Prix it would be that qualifying is empty calories. As Norris qualified P19 for the Sunday race, due to the unlucky yellow flag, he had a tough drive ahead. Moreover, his rookie teammate qualified in seventh, further mounting pressure on the young Briton. However, in a purgative twist of events, the McLaren driver re-established himself as the leader at McLaren, at least for the Mexican Grand Prix.

Throughout the race, Norris made silent overtakes on the back and mid-fielders. From nineteenth on the grid to ninth, right behind Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda, the Brit charged like a bull. While he closed the gap, Piastri scrapped to keep the gap to Tsunoda on tethered mediums. In a head-to-head battle for the seventh, the two collided, opening the door for Norris who took P8 behind his teammate.

Clearly faster than Piastri, team order soon came to aid him in his fight for P5 and above. Piastri’s race engineer, Tom, said, “Oscar if this is our pace, we would let Lando pass, to go and attack Ricciardo. We would need to find half a second.” leaving no room for rebuttal.

And with the team orders, the McLarens wasted no time in switching their position. Piastri later finished in eighth and Norris bumped to seventh. The Briton soon disposed of Ricciardo and took the fight to George Russell within the next ten laps. Russell on old mediums, had no defence against the McLaren driver. The position was sealed with Norris going elbows out against the struggling Mercedes.

READ MORE: Lando Norris Sidelined as Zak Brown Crowns MVP Who Turned McLaren’s Dwindling Fortunes Around

Despite ending the race in a respectable order, prior to it, Norris had no hopes of making it to the top 10. Taking the blame for his Q1 exit, he resorted to being self-critical again.

Lando Norris and his habit of too much self-reflection

“I blew it,” said Lando Norris after finishing P3 in the Qatar Sprint. Despite the mega job, the McLaren driver wasn’t pleased finishing behind his rookie teammate. He blamed himself for making ‘too many mistakes’. The Sunday race that followed in Lusail was no different.

His self-deprecation prompted McLaren’s team principal, Andrea Stella, to chide him. Asking the Briton to find balance, he said, “You need to find the right balance, and you need to find the right dynamics in terms of communication to the world and in terms of communication to yourself, to put yourself in the position to perform today, and in the position to keep improving every day.” His habit of self-reflecting too much caught the attention of former Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg as well.

Although Norris exited Q1 in Mexico with no fault of his own, he said, “So yeah, that one opportunity, that one lap that I was given, I didn’t put together and I went off and that was it. We’ll speak about it after. I had one lap, and I didn’t do it, so it’s on me.” Looks like the McLaren driver is yet to find the balance Stella hoped he would.

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After the stellar performances in the mid-races of the season, McLaren has dropped off again after reviving its papaya army. Was the British Constructor’s resurgence just a fluke?