Oscar Piastri details crucial ace Lando Norris lacks in F1 title fight

Oscar Piastri believes his experience in winning multiple junior series championships could prove useful in his F1 title battle with Lando Norris.

Piastri leads McLaren team-mate Norris by nine points as the season prepares to resume at the Dutch Grand Prix with 10 rounds and 475 points remaining, including three Sprint weekends.

Of the two drivers, Piastri has the stronger junior career, winning Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019, FIA F3 in 2020, and FIA F2 in 2021, all at the first time of asking.

On his way up to F1 after winning what is now British F4, Norris also won Formula Renault Eurocup, as well as the New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series and the 2017 FIA Euro F3 title.

However, in FIA F2 in 2018, Norris failed to claim the title, after winning only one race all season and finishing second to George Russell. 

Piastri believes his knowledge of how to bank championships in different manners could prove crucial to his dream of becoming Australia's third F1 champion, after Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones.

"I won all three in different ways," he explained to his McLaren team.

"In Formula Renault, I was quick but made quite a few mistakes. In F3, my ultimate pace wasn’t as good, but I was consistently there and in the fight. In F2, I think that was the best of the three in how I combined pace with consistency.  

"What that has taught me is that there is no one single way to win a championship. 

"Obviously, you want to be as fast as you can as often as possible, but knowing when to pick your moments and take risks is important.

"I would say I’ve handled [the pressure] well, but this has been the part of the year when the pressure isn’t really on in the championship fight.

"Obviously, you don’t want to give away points, but it has been far too early to be thinking of the season in that way. At this stage, you just want to go into the weekend trying to get the most out of it as you can, rather than thinking of the championship overall.

"I think I’ve handled it well, but I haven’t concentrated on it much. The pressure is only going to increase from here. When we get to the latter part of the year, that is when the pressure will ramp up."