Lando Norris unfazed about Oscar Piastri’s growing momentum as the Australian responds to Alan Jones’ stinging Norris critique
Max Verstappen has been a notable absentee in the build-up to the Miami Grand Prix - but for good reason. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri has leapt to the defence of teammate Lando Norris.
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Oscar Piastri has reacted to Australian F1 great Alan Jones’ mentally “weak” critique of Lando Norris, who says he is not worried about his McLaren teammate’s momentum in the championship race but admits he needs to “get a move on”.
Norris lost the lead in the drivers’ championship to Piastri after his teammate’s victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which was the Australian’s second consecutive win and his third from the opening five races of the season.
Piastri holds a 10-point lead over Norris leading into this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix where the Brit broke through for his first Formula 1 grand prix win last year.
Norris won the opening race of the season at Albert Park and has finished on the podium on three occasions since, but has at times been openly self-critical of his performances.
In one instance, he labelled himself a “f***ing idiot” over the team radio after crashing out of qualifying in Jeddah.
Norris came under fire this week from Australia’s 1980 world champion Jones, who said the 25-year-old was mentally “quite a weak person” as he hailed the “strong-minded” Piastri.
Speaking ahead of the Miami race, Piastri responded to Jones’ comments, saying he and Norris handled situations differently and there was “no right or wrong” approach.
“For me, the most important thing is to try and do things in the style that’s most natural to you,” Piastri told select media, including Motorsport Week, ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
“When you start trying to do things that aren’t your natural way of being a person, that’s when things become confusing. That’s when things start to go wrong.
“So I think everyone handles that differently. I think Lando handles that quite differently to how I handle it.
“But I think probably a lot of the emotions across the grid that happen, regardless of whether they’re in the public or not, are probably pretty similar. I think that’s kind of how we’re wired as people, as competitors.
“But obviously there’s different emotions and different ways of dealing with that. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way. I think it’s very individual to the person.
“I think, again, I’m quite different, probably at the other end of the spectrum. But again, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of dealing with it.
“Because that’s what you feel is the best way of either venting or trying to reset yourself.
“Lando knows himself much better than I and probably all of us do.”
As he returned to the scene of his maiden F1 win, Norris dismissed concerns that the championship momentum was building pace with Piastri.
He praised the “good job” his teammate was doing, but said he did not believe in the notion of momentum and added he needed to “get into gear”.
“No, not worried at all,” Norris said.
“He’s doing a good job and he deserves it. Nothing more than that.
“I don’t believe so much in the momentum stuff – that’s just my opinion.
“I’m doing what I can. I’ve clearly made some mistakes and not at the level that I need to be, but believe I can be at that level soon enough.
“So no reason to be worried. It’s round six of 24. I’m not going to say that forever, but I know I need to get a move on and get into gear a little bit.
“I’m doing the best I can every weekend at the minute, trying to improve.
“But the speed is there, the pace is there, the race pace is definitely there.
“It’s just one thing I need to tidy up. It’s a difficult thing, but I’m confident I’ll get it.”
While the Norris-Piastri battle continues to be a talking point, there was speculation their Red Bull title rival Max Verstappen could be returning to the paddock as a father.
Red Bull confirmed Verstappen missed Thursday’s media day in Miami due to the impending arrival of his first child with his partner, Kelly Piquet.
“Please note that Max will not be attending media day in Miami as he is expecting a baby,” the team statement said.
“All is well and he will attend track tomorrow for the race weekend.
“We will not be offering any further comment at this time in respect towards the privacy of Max and his family.”
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