McLaren title change highlighted after early-season 'slam dunk'

Racing driver and F1 commentator Alex Brundle believes Oscar Piastri had a “slam dunk” route to the title in the early stage of the season.

After Lando Norris won the opening round of the season in Australia, Piastri responded with a record of four victories at the following five events.

In the eight races that succeeded Piastri's run of success, Norris has enjoyed a more triumphant period with four wins compared to Piastri's two.

Piastri's advantage in the drivers' championship sits at just nine points, with Brundle suggesting he thought the Australian's lead would be greater based on his early-season form.

“Which one of them can handle the pressure throughout the year?” Brundle said on the Red Flags podcast.

“I assumed that at the beginning of this year that that person was going to be Piastri. It was a slam dunk.

“You could see the character of the two drivers. Oscar Piastri, when you heard from him, when you watched him in the paddock, when you watched the way he engaged with it, he looked so much calmer.

“Then you see weekends like Monaco where Lando is under pressure. Everybody is talking about his mentality.

“He just turns up and is lightning with no mistakes all weekend. All of a sudden, you think, ‘Oh, okay. So this one is going to run the full year’.

“Lando can, if he finds the right mode, handle that pressure and deliver all of that pace.

“McLaren has also found him something in the front steering that gives him a bit of a better feel of the car for those front limited circuits he doesn't like.”

Both Norris and Piastri have highlighted minimising mistakes, rather than seeking to be the fastest driver, will result in title success.

Brundle is anticipating the battle will run to the final round in Abu Dhabi, where the chance of making an error will be at its highest.

“It’s going to go to the wire,” he said. “The last test, and it's a psychological test, is what happens in the big finale.

“We're going to get that between the two of them, because that's yet another mind state, isn't it? Abu Dhabi, final race, off the line stuff is where being under a bit of pressure turns into ’win or lose today’.

“That’s going to be the fascinating part of the second part of the season.”