Oscar Piastri 'pressure cracks' showing after Lando Norris incident

Oscar Piastri is starting to show "cracks" in his battle against Lando Norris for the drivers' title, according to former F1 driver Johnny Herbert.

Piastri ended last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix in fourth place, one position behind Norris.

The result followed an opening lap clash between the pair, one that Piastri took issue with as he felt he was unfairly shunted out of the way by Norris.

Piastri voiced his frustration with McLaren's call over team radio after the Woking-based squad opted not to intervene and order the cars to swap positions.

As the F1 title battle enters its final stages, Herbert believes Piastri's annoyance at the situation is a sign he is beginning to feel pressure.

"We're seeing those little, tiny pressure cracks from Oscar from all his comments," Herbert told BettingLounge.

"The cool Oscar Piastri that everyone was talking about at the beginning of the season is not there. 

"The pressure's building and when that pressure pot builds in a championship battle, it's the one who has that stronger mentality to try and get rid of that negative Singapore result for Oscar but then have the positivity going into the next race. 

"It wasn't the perfect result for Lando, but he was ahead of Oscar. It's come down to 22 points."

Let the drivers go

Singapore's race marked the third consecutive occasion Norris has finished ahead of Piastri, allowing him to further narrow the gap in the drivers' title race to 22 points.

With just six races remaining, Herbert has called on McLaren to let their drivers race freely without any team orders, now that the constructors' championship has been wrapped up.

“He's piling the pressure on Oscar, but he's doing a great job as well,” Herbert said. “He's showing his speed once again, and they're both very close anyway. 

“This is really where they all show their inner strengths and mental strengths as well. 

“The key to this is McLaren letting them race because they have won the constructors’ for a second year running, which was very impressive. Now it's [about] letting their drivers go.”