Oscar Piastri addresses Lando Norris title threat after Zandvoort heartbreak

Oscar Piastri has asserted he still considers Lando Norris a significant threat in the title fight following the Briton's major setback last weekend in the Netherlands.

Piastri won his seventh grand prix of the season last Sunday, while team-mate Norris was forced to retire with an engine issue in the final laps.

It has left Norris sitting 34 points down on Piastri in the title fight, giving a significant advantage to the latter.

But when asked how much the large lead is playing on his mind, Piastri told media including RacingNews365: “Honestly, very little. 

“One of my own championships, I've had a much bigger gap than this and had it pretty much erased before the final round. 

“I've got personal experience of this not being a comfortable gap. 

“It's still far too early to be calculating and settling for positions that aren't first.  

“For me, the approach is still exactly the same. That won't change until the gap is pretty significantly bigger or the amount of races is significantly smaller.”

Piastri does not believe Norris will change his approach and take added risk to close the deficit in the races ahead.

“I don't think so, I don't think much will change,” he said.

“He's certainly not out of the fight. Yes, it's a bit more difficult now, but I don't expect much to change. 

“We'll race each other the same way. I think the amount of risk-taking will be the same. 

“We'll both be trying to drive as fast as we can. It's not like we've been holding anything back from that side of things.”