In Norris' shadow, Piastri is already showing himself to be a future champion

Mental strength of Piastri

Zak Brown and Andrea Stella agree on one thing: in terms of mentality, Piastri is very good. The former F2 and F3 champion got a lot thrown at him when, as an Alpine junior, he decided to leave for McLaren. Especially the Alpine management openly criticised the junior and Piastri also got a lot of abuse online. Then you have to be firm in your shoes for that not to hurt you.

Piastri and McLaren were proven right in the Alpine lawsuit, but Piastri's image was then scratched. Indeed, if you take the Netflix series Drive to Survive as a benchmark, Piastri was the villain of the story. Anyone who follows the F1 season knows it was not. Alpine handled her junior badly and then went on an anti-social fight in court only to lose it. Even after that defeat, apologies never followed towards the still only 22-year-old driver.

But more words need not be wasted on Alpine's (mis)policy in this matter. Piastri continued to focus on what he is good at: racing. Piastri had already impressed in Formula 3 and Formula 2 by winning both championships as a rookie. Despite being sidelined for a year and barely able to test in 2022, the Australian was right there in 2023.

Why Ricciardo had to leave

McLaren pulled out all the stops to get Piastri. Daniel Ricciardo's ongoing contract was bought off to hijack the young talent away from Alpine. A hefty investment to put two drivers of equal calibre in the car. It seems to have succeeded, as in the first five Grands Prix of 2023, the average difference in qualifying is just 0.080s in Norris' favour. The Briton is ahead in the qualifying duel (3-1), the race duel (4-1) and in points (10-4), but is noticing more pressure in everything than had been the case in recent years. Norris too noticed that his new teammate was adding more pressure than Ricciardo ever did.

Indeed, there was a good reason for McLaren to get Piastri. Ricciardo was snatched away from Renault as an expensive front-runner to make the step towards the top, but Ricciardo could never live up to that expectation. In his first year, he still pointed to the car Norris had known for years, but in 2022, Ricciardo couldn't get it done with a completely new car either.

Indeed, in the second year, the average difference in qualifying only increased. Where Ricciardo lost 0.192s to Norris in 2021, it was 0.344s in 2022. Right on the Saturday where Ricciardo always made the difference at Red Bull Racing. In the qualifying duel, the difference was even more painful. In 2021 it was 15-7 in Norris' favour, in 2022 it was a whopping 20-2.

Even on Sunday, Ricciardo was not close. In two years, Ricciardo finished just nine races ahead of his teammate when they both crossed the finish line. The other way round was the case 30 times. Norris also scored many more points in two years. The Briton collected 282 points, compared to Ricciardo's 152.

McLaren has future world champion in house

Considering the difference in experience of the two Australians and the fact that Piastri has been away from racing for a year, it makes it all the more galling that Piastri is much closer to Norris in the standings. With that, McLaren again has what it wants: two drivers who can propel the team forward, as Carlos Sainz and Norris did in 2019 and 2020.

Indeed, under the leadership of the 'bromance' duo, McLaren set out on the road back to the sub-top, only to stagnate in 2021. Of course, this has mainly to do with the car, but Sainz and Norris did push each other forward. Norris narrowly faster in qualifying, Sainz racking up the most points in an entire year. With Ricciardo, this was never the case.

It never came to a clash between Sainz and Norris. Sainz was the experienced guy and Norris the rookie. This was reflected in points and the year when Norris was supposed to perform, Sainz had already left for Ferrari. This created the lopsided situation of an expensively paid front-runner who underperformed and a homegrown talent who actually took on the role as front-runner.

For McLaren, it is a nice development that it now again has two drivers who are close to each other. The team is not yet where it wants to be on the grid, but these drivers can move the team forward.

However, the fact that Piastri is so close also gives food for thought. Given it is only his first year in F1 and he has had a gap year, you do wonder about some things. Is Norris really that good, is the Briton having a lesser season or is Piastri just a future world champion that Alpine has let walk?

Norris is in his fifth season in F1 and thus a good benchmark for Piastri. The Briton will also know he cannot lose this duel. Norris still has a contract until 2025 at McLaren, but has also been linked to teams closer to victories. He could ask his former teammate Ricciardo how quickly that attention disappears when you start losing ground on your younger teammate.

From Norris' perspective, it is also understandable if he is a little less sharp this year than he has been in recent years. The MCL60 is disappointing badly and there are a lot of changes being made at the top within McLaren. Norris knows he is not going to achieve a podium or victory with this car and is therefore logically a little less motivated. Still, he will have to step up to stay on the radar of better-performing teams.

For McLaren, two fighting team-mates are a luxury problem, because in the background, McLaren is currently not in the spotlight and secretly has two very good drivers in its cars. Norris has been known as a great talent for years and Piastri, with his CV, is also one of the best, if not the best of his generation. If you then look at Alpine's driver duo, McLaren really has it better in that respect. Now all they need is a good car.