Oscar Piastri is aware that he must respect instructions given by McLaren F1 to help Lando Norris. The Australian is aware that the team is aiming for both championships, but he makes it clear that he will not respect any order at all costs.
“The team wants to win both championships. If you have the opportunity to do that, you can’t pass it up. If I only think about what I want, I don’t like the team’s instructions. team against me. No driver likes that.” Piastri said.
“For your own pride, you want to show that you are the fastest driver on the track. However, I will help Lando in the final races if asked. He has the best chance of winning the title.”
“But it’s not a blank check. It has to make sense for me to let it go. We also want to win the constructors’ championship and sacrificing my race to help Lando won’t help us achieve that goal. We will decide on a case-by-case basis.”
“Baku showed how we do things at McLaren. If Lando hadn’t stopped Pérez after the first pit stop, I might not have won. He has his share of responsibility for my victory.”
Piastri looked back on his victory in Baku, explaining that he didn’t expect to be able to win until he got back on Charles Leclerc: “It’s the best victory of my career. When he flew away in the first relay, I never thought I would win the race.”
“Second place seemed like the best possible result. After the pit stop I saw half a chance to take the lead. I had more grip for a few laps and I knew that if I didn’t If you don’t pass it now, it would never work.”
“The overtaking maneuver accounted for 40% of the victory, and defending the lead for 35 laps, the remaining 60%. Charles’ first overtaking attempt on the medium tires went wrong. I blew the tires in along the way.”
“My race engineer warned me never to do that again. Unfortunately, I had to ignore his warning the second time. It was a close call. I thought I was going to finish in the zone off the track, but I managed it.”
The Australian is the driver who has scored the most points in around ten races, but it is not a statistic that matters to him: “I don’t believe in these arithmetic games. Another driver probably scored the most points in the last eight or ten races. Anyone can get the result that suits them.”
“What matters is the present moment. McLaren gives me a car that is very fast everywhere. And if it is not the fastest, like in Baku, it still gives you the possibility of winning if the team and you yourself do whatever it takes.”
