Lando Norris dismisses Oscar Piastri 'momentum' concerns in McLaren fight

Lando Norris has rejected the suggestion Oscar Piastri has the "momentum" in the F1 drivers' championship fight, having triumphed in three of the opening five rounds.

The British driver started the season well, taking victory at his McLaren team-mate's home race, in Melbourne. However, since then he has played second fiddle to the Australian.

Piastri ate away at Norris' early advantage in the title standings by winning in China and Bahrain, before taking control of the battle with a further victory in Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Despite the shifting sands of fortunate, the 25-year-old maintains he has no cause for concern.

When it was put to him that Piastri has seized the impetus, he played down the situation.

"No, not worried at all," he told media including RacingNews365. "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 I need to be, but I believe I can be at that level soon enough. So no reason to be worried."

'One thing' for Norris to 'tidy up'

Compounding Piastri's strong form has been multiple high-profile errors committed by Norris, particularly in qualifying.

An uncharacteristically poor performance in the grid-setting session at the Bahrain International Circuit left the five-time grand prix winner starting sixth.

Whilst he recovered to third by the chequered flag, it was a messy race for him and second was more than achievable. Meanwhile, his team-mate won from pole.

The following week, at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Norris made an even more egregious mistake in qualifying, crashing his MCL39 heavily in Q3, consigning him to tenth on the grid.

Although he came through the pack to finish fourth on race day, a podium was within reach. Piastri won again, taking the championship lead by 10 points.

To Norris, if he can correct this qualifying form - which was a strength last term with a joint-best eight pole positions - he will be right back in contention with the 24-year-old, who has made significant strides over one lap since last year, when it was a notable weakness.

"It’s round six of 24," Norris said. "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 [qualifying] I need to tidy up. It’s a difficult thing, but I’m confident I’ll get it."