Lando Norris’ Rampant Demolition of Daniel Ricciardo Leaves Oscar Piastri Shaking in His Boots

Oscar Piastri is having the time of his life in Formula 1. He joined McLaren at a time when they were struggling to hold their position in the midfield. But fortunately for him, his decision of replacing Daniel Ricciardo took a beautiful turn after MCL60 underwent major upgrades. But for the Australian rookie, the main problem now is his teammate, Lando Norris‘ skills that troubled Ricciardo and are now troubling him.

During Ricciardo’s 2 years at McLaren, the only highlight was his win at Monza in 2020. Otherwise, Norris’ heroics were too hot to handle for him. A similar situation was seen when Piastri joined the Woking outfit in 2023. But after the upgrades came through, the field, somehow, got level. Though Piastri is trying to match and emulate what Norris is doing, the road has been tough.

Piastri said, as quoted by TheRace, “He’s definitely been a very good reference. There’s always corners that I can do better because of seeing what he can do. I think there’s not been any occasions where I’ve gone, ‘Wow, I can’t do that’.” He added “I know what he’s achieved in #Formula1 as well. I know how he’s compared against his previous teammates.”

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Despite being outclassed by his teammate, Piastri has not given up. He knows that this is the beginning of the road and better times are to come.

Oscar Piastri gets back in the zone to achieve ambitious targets

Piastri has been a revelation this year. He will probably take the Rookie of the Year trophy home this year. More importantly, to secure a good position in the WDC, consistency would be key. And he knows that a lot of work is still to be put in to ensure that he can not only be better than his teammate but also the rest of the grid.

“There’s definitely still things I need to work on,” Piastri told The Race. “I’m [slowly] getting everything right and to a level that I’m happy with. But I know there’s still room to improve and that’s not the ceiling of where I want to be.”

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If he can keep showing up like he has been doing in the latter stages of the 1st half of 2023, McLaren will be able to take the fight to Red Bull and maybe, a shot at finishing in the Top 3 in the Constructors’ championship.