McLaren’s Lando Norris: I don’t expect Piastri to yield wins easily

McLaren’s Lando Norris has made it clear that despite the team's focus on his championship ambitions, he does not anticipate his teammate Oscar Piastri to simply step aside and forfeit race victories.

This statement comes in the wake of a recent controversy at the Italian Grand Prix, where Piastri’s aggressive maneuver on the opening lap allowed Charles Leclerc to overtake Norris and eventually clinch the win.

Norris, currently 62 points adrift of championship leader Max Verstappen, has newfound hope as McLaren's performance surges while Red Bull struggles. With eight races left, there is growing speculation that Norris could mount a title challenge.

As McLaren approaches the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where they are tipped as strong contenders, team boss Andrea Stella affirmed that Norris would now be the priority driver.

When questioned if Piastri would yield to him in the event of a one-two scenario, Norris was candid: "No, probably not."

Norris elaborated, highlighting that Piastri will not simply relinquish his position at every instance.

"In general, probably for lower positions, but if he's fought for a win and he's deserving of a win, then he deserves to win," Norris said. "He's still fighting for his own racing and going out and doing his own stuff. It could be there's no time this year he needs to help me. It's more that I've got Oscar's help when needs be, but he's not... But he's still going out with the intent every session, just fighting for himself and going to do his job."

Norris also addressed the perception of their dynamic, suggesting media has overblown their interaction at Monza:

"There's been plenty of things we've done through the last few years where he's helped me and I've helped him, and we've already done decisions, but it's just not been public. So I mean, people can always say what they want, and come up with what they want, but we know how we work. We have good guidelines and a good structure that we work to, but that's their opinion, and they can think what they want."

The complexities of their situation were echoed by Piastri in his media address following Norris’s comments.

"It still needs some more discussion," Piastri said. "I think the main point is it's not just purely going to be me pulling over for Lando every single race because that's how none of us, including Lando, wants to go racing. Trying to go through all the scenarios is impossible and of course we don't want to discuss that publicly but the main one is if we feel someone has done a much better job over the course of a weekend, whichever way it is we want that person to be rewarded."

Piastri further emphasized that achieving a balance is vital for both their individual and team targets:

"That's where of course it becomes tricky still and we need to continue discussing that. But it's not simply a blanket 'I'm going to be behind Lando in every single race and decision that's taken from here on out', because I still have things that I want to achieve in the championship and boost my standing in the championship.

"Of course, as a team we're not winning the constructors' championship so we need to make sure we win that, of course, so it's very important we maintain that kind of respect in between."

As the championship race heats up, the collaboration and competition between Norris and Piastri will be a defining element of McLaren’s strategy.

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