Lando Norris makes '99%' claim in F1 title battle with Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris has claimed he and Oscar Piastri are "99 per cent" free to race for this year's F1 drivers' title despite the perception McLaren is orchestrating results with its drivers.

That was the feeling that emerged following the recent Italian Grand Prix when Piastri was instructed to hand back second position to Norris late in the race at Monza following a slow pit stop for the Briton.

Piastri expressed his opinion over the team radio that such incidents were part of racing, yet ultimately complied, particularly as he was unaware of the bigger picture, relating to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, which was later detailed to the drivers in post-race talks in the days that followed.

McLaren's decision resulted in a six-point swing in the standings. Piastri could have emerged with a 37-point cushion over Norris. Instead, the latter goes into this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix 31 points adrift with eight races remaining.

In light of that incident, and the one last year in Hungary, where Norris was forced to cede position and hand a victory to Piastri after a shift in pit-stop protocol, there have been claims from critics that McLaren is not allowing its drivers to race freely and fairly.

Norris, however, has dismissed such theories and does not doubt that he and Piastri can continue to go wheel-to-wheel without any interference from the pit wall, unless in such exceptional circumstances as occurred at the Hungaroring and Monza.

"For 99 per cent of things, of course," said Norris, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365, when asked about being free to race for the remainder of the campaign.

"How things look, because of something that happened [at Monza], gives everyone a very different opinion or oversight on things.

"But if you make it as simple, and it's kind of how we did it, as happened in Hungary last year, which was a very similar thing, that the driver in the lead has priority in a pit-stop sequence, and that's exactly what we were entering [at Monza], then things don't change.

"But the fact is, as soon as we re-established the positions, Oscar could race me freely. He still had the advantage of starting on my gearbox and trying to race me, so he still gained overall.

"But otherwise, we've been free to race every time.

"It's just that in one lap of a pit sequence, the lead driver always has priority. That's how it's always been, and how it will continue to be. Otherwise, like we said, we're free to race."