McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris plan to work together (Picture: Shutterstock)
Despite a brilliant victory in Azerbaijan, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has conceded challenging for the drivers’ championship is ‘not realistic’ and the team’s best chance of dethroning Max Verstappen remains, for now, with Lando Norris.
‘I’m not out of the running but I think on average I need to score over ten points more than Max every weekend,’ said the 23-year-old, who is fourth in the standings and 91 points behind the leader ahead of Sunday’s race in Singapore.
‘I can try and win every race but it’s now at the point where I need other things to start happening. For that to happen seven races in a row is not very realistic.’
His team-mate is closer to the prize, with Verstappen just 59 points ahead. With both of their drivers winning races, McLaren find themselves in a position the team have not been in decades – leading the constructors’ world championship.
‘Maintaining the lead in the constructors’ is by far a bigger target,’ said Piastri. The papaya team have a 20-point advantage over reigning title holders Red Bull Racing. Ferrari are also in the ascendant and just 31 points shy of the lead.
Since Verstappen won in Spain in June, Red Bull have no victories and just two second places. In the past seven rounds they’ve amassed just 126 points compared to McLaren’s gain of 239 and Ferrari’s gain of 155.
Charles Leclerc took pole and led the first half of the race in Azerbaijan, while Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr won in Singapore last year. Both the Baku circuit and the Marina Bay layout suit Ferrari’s car best but McLaren have proven they have the pace to win on tracks which are far from tailor-made for the MCL38.
Piastri has a spring in his step. ‘I think we should be competitive this weekend. I don’t think [Baku] was our most competitive track of the year, so to pull off a win like that when Ferrari were so fast was a nice confidence boost,’ he added.
In Azerbaijan, Verstappen could only manage fifth and was elevated due to the late exit of team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Sainz.
Max Verstappen has endured a tough second half of the year (Picture: Getty Images)
Christian Horner, of course, defended his driver. But it is a dire second half of 2024 and if they are to regain the constructors’ lead and keep Verstappen top of the drivers’ table there can be no more mistakes.
That Norris failed to graduate from Q1 in Baku and from the back of the grid could only muster P4 and the fastest lap at least left a crack of light, as far as the Red Bull team principal is concerned.
He said: ‘What has [Lando] taken, three points off [Max]? [But] it’s frustrating, particularly after where Lando qualified, that we didn’t beat him. We took a big hit in the constructors’, so we’ve got to attack. There’s …read more
Source:: Metro
