Oscar Piastri beats McLaren teammate in major statement at Saudi Arabian GP

Oscar Piastri has made a huge statement in just his second F1 race, getting the better of his McLaren teammate in a tight battle.

Matthew Sullivan

2 min read

March 20, 2023 - 9:56AM

Oscar Piastri took it up up to Lando Norris.

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Oscar Piastri has made a major statement early in his F1 career, beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Monday morning (AEDT).

Piastri started eighth on the grid after an excellent performance in qualifying but he had a disastrous start to the race — sustaining damage to his front wing, forcing him to come into the pits on the very first lap.

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“Not at all what he wanted after that superb qualifying,” Sky Sports commentator Karun Chandhok said.

It didn’t get any better for McLaren when Norris had to pit on lap 3, also to replace his front wing.

The pit stops relegated the teammates to the back of the grid and it was always going to be a struggle to push for a top 10 finish.

But Piastri impressed, staying right on Norris’ tail despite the Brit being given the fresher medium tyres.

Piastri passed Norris on lap 45, but his teammate immediately got back in front on the next corner.

Oscar Piastri managed to beat his teammate in just his second F1 race. (Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images)

In a show of faith in the rookie, McLaren ordered Norris not to fight Piastri, and he eventually let his younger teammate overtake him with a couple of laps to go.

“They have been on the team radio to Lando Norris saying don’t make it too difficult for Oscar Piastri,” Chandhok said.

“That’s an interesting call, the rookie being given free reign to fight the No. 1 at McLaren.

“This would be a quite a statement if Piastri could make his way past Lando Norris,” Martin Brundle said on Sky Sports.

McLaren didnâ€™t give new tyres to Piastri under the safety car by the way.

Lando got new mediums.
Huge performance from Oscar.
— Benjamin (@Tiametmarduk) March 19, 2023

LAP 46/50

Piastri makes a pass on team mate Norris, but he comes back at him at Turn 1 âš”ï¸#SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/GSaGt933Us
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2023

After getting past Norris, Piastri overtook Williams rookie Logan Sargeant on the last lap to finish 15th. Norris finished 17th.

Coupled with his qualifying performance, it was an impressive second race weekend for Piastri after engine failure cruelled his debut in Bahrain.

“I have been very impressed this weekend with Oscar,” 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg said.

“It’s the ultimate challenge for a rookie to come in and be up against Lando, especially when the car is so difficult and bad to drive.

“A really solid weekend.”

Speaking post race, Norris insisted he could have kept Piastri at bay if he wanted to.

“I quite easily could have probably kept the position at the end and got past the Williams but I just let him go in the end,” he said.

“It would be different if I was fighting for points but 16th and 17th, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez won his fifth Grand Prix, ahead of Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman scored an extra point for fastest lap to keep his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Fernando Alonso crossed the line third and was celebrating two podium finishes to start the season — and his 100th F1 podium overall.

But after standing on the podium, he was handed a 10-second penalty for not correctly serving a penalty during the race, elevating George Russell to third.