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McLaren driver Lando Norris has expressed his thoughts about future battles with teammate Oscar Piastri as the former believes in the Australian's part behind his progression.
Back in 2022, when the F1 season concluded and Fernando Alonso marked his switch from Alpine to Aston Martin, the then Renault-powered team's boss Otmar Szafnauer cited Piastri as the replacement for the 2023 season.
However, the Aussie driver had other plans as the 22-year-old publicly denied his future with Alpine. On the flip side, he joined forces with McLaren, filling the void created by Daniel Ricciardo's exit.
Piastri's F1 debut sparked a major debate, putting a lot of pressure on him to live up to the anticipation, and he did. He finished his rookie season in ninth place in the standings, after capturing the 2023 Qatar Sprint event.
The McLaren duo are currently P5 and P6 in the 2024 standings, secured by Piastri and Norris, respectively. The #4 MCL38 driver believes that his teammate has come a long way with the team and has contributed to the Brit's rise in motorsport prowess.
Ahead of the Japanese GP, scheduled for Sunday, March 7, at 14:00 Track Time, Lando Norris unraveled Piastri's progress in McLaren and the future battles set to take place between the duo on the tracks. Norris said (via SkySports F1 on X):
"Last year was already a very tough competition. He (Piastri) has obviously improved, because it's second year he's a bit more comfortable. He looked comfortable last year but now he's probably even more comfortable."
The Brit added:
"He's doing a strong job and he did since day one last year already, so I don't expect anything different. He's going to push me, I'm going to push him and I look forward to our battles together."
Lando Norris slams the notion of Carlos Sainz being "underrated" with his "silly" remark
The 2025 season will see 7x WDC Lewis Hamilton driving for Scuderia Ferrari with new teammate Charles Leclerc beside him. Carlos Sainz, hence, is observing his final year with the Prancing Horses. Though Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has named Sainz as a future candidate for the Austrian team, the uncertain future still prevails.
Moreover, no team has officially come forward to sign Sainz for the next season, which begs the question of his competency on the asphalt. Witnessing the notions of Sainz being a subpar driver, Lando Norris rubbished the rumors with his "silly" remark.
During the post-race debrief at the Australian GP, where the #55 SF24 driver made an astonishing comeback from an appendicitis procedure and secured the win, Norris shunned the perception of Carlos being an "underrated" driver, saying:
"You're silly if you underrate him [Carlos Sainz]. People know what he's capable of doing, know his effort level, his approach, and dedication to wanting to be one of the best, exactly like he's proved today, and over the last couple of weeks."
Lando Norris added:
"I'm sure you have plenty of drivers who probably wouldn't have tried as hard and dedicated so much of their time and effort to trying to recover. For the people who know what he's capable of doing, you would never ever say he's underrated."
