Oscar Piastri says he won’t sacrifice his own title chance to help Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen
Aussie Oscar Piastri remains defiant in his push for his maiden F1 championship, declaring that he won’t sacrifice his own race to help teammate Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen and win the title.
Oscar Piastri has emphatically ruled out any possibility of sacrificing his own world championship hopes to help his McLaren team team Lando Norris fend off Max Verstappen.
And the Australian’s defiant stance has been enthusiastically supported by Verstappen himself, who says he would have told McLaren to “F off” if they suggested to him he should move over.
McLaren aren’t doing that anyway, publicly confirming that both their drivers will be given the same opportunity to win the championship ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix and next weekend’s season-ending race in Abu Dhabi.
Asked whether the team had given any consideration to Piastri helping out Norris in Qatar, the Aussie fired back: “We’ve had a very brief discussion on it and the answer is ‘no’.
“I’m still equal on points with Max and I’ve got a decent shot of still winning it if things go my way, and that’s how we’ll play it.”
With a maximum 25 points remaining from each of the final two Grands Prix, plus eight points from Sunday morning’s sprint race in Qatar, Norris, Piastri and Verstappen all have a shot at winning the drivers’ championship.
Norris currently leads his two remaining rivals by 24 points so would clinch the title with a round to spare if he outscores them both by at least two points at the high-speed Lusail International Circuit north of Doha.
If Piastri or Verstappen finish ahead of Norris this weekend the Formula One drivers’ crown will be decided in Abu Dhabi.
Plenty of drivers in the past have come from behind in the last two races to clinch the title and while Piastri knows he’ll need a lot of luck to go his way, he’s vowed to fight to the end.
“Obviously there’s still a chance, and I want to try and finish the year on a high if I can. It’s been a pretty good circuit for me in the past, so hopefully it can be again,” he said.
“I think it can definitely still go my way, but not everything is within my control now.
“I need to be there and put myself in the best position so that if things happen, I can capitalise. That’s all I can try and do, really. Just try to have good pace, put myself in a good position and see what unfolds.
“A hunter has to be ruthless, I guess.
“I’ll try my best. Ultimately, I’m not that concerned with trying to hunt anyone down or anything like that. I’m just trying to get the best performance I can out of myself.
“Naturally, if you do that then things start to look good for you and it puts people under pressure, but you need to go out there and perform first, so that’s what I’ll be focused on.”
While McLaren has won the constructors’ title for each of the last two seasons, the team hasn’t won the drivers’ championships since 2008 and is desperate to do so this season.
“There is no reason to do so,“ McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said.
“We have always said that as long as the maths does not say otherwise, we would leave it up to the two drivers to fight for their chance at the final victory, and that is how it will be in Qatar.
“Let’s not forget that if someone had told us at the start of the season that we would find ourselves in this situation with two races to go, we would have signed up for it!
“Now we are going to fight for the double world championship with confidence and awareness of our strength.”
While unlikely, Verstappen could yet end up being the big winner if McLaren’s approach backfires, but the Dutchman said their decision to give Piastri a fair crack at the title was the right one.
“It’s perfect. You can’t do a better job than allowing them to race as well, because why would you suddenly now say that Oscar wouldn’t be allowed anymore?” Verstappen told reporters in Qatar.
“If that was said to me I would have not rocked up. I would have told him to ‘F off’. So yeah, if you’re a real winner in a race, as a driver, then you go for it - even if you’re behind.
“What’s the point otherwise to turning up? Otherwise you can easily just label yourself as a number two driver which I think he doesn’t want to be. Then for me, I know that I’m equal on points with Oscar.
“Like I said before, a lot still needs to go right, but I think it should be like that, that they are free to race and hopefully we can make it a great battle until the end.”
Norris would have had an even bigger lead in the championship if not for both McLaren cars being disqualified after last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix because of a technical infringement with the skid blocks under their cars.
While the breach was deemed unintentional, the points lost from the ensuing disqualification have narrowed the gap at the top but Norris said he’s not worried.
“I’ve never been in this situation before but I’m excited. I think it’s exciting for everyone. I certainly would have liked to have the 30-point gap instead of 24 to whoever it is,” he said.
“I think I’ll just go and try to do the same thing – I’ll focus on trying to get a good qualifying and have a good race and just take it one step at a time. I don’t mind but of course the earlier I can do it, the better.
“At the same time, that doesn’t change how I do anything. I just need to try and win and it’s as simple as that.”
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