Norris dismisses being number one driver: 'I need to earn it'

Norris had to hand a position back to his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend. Everyone at McLaren, including Norris himself, agrees this was the right thing to do for the team. However, it did cost Norris seven points in the World Championship whereas Piastri still sits in fifth place following his maiden win. 

Norris and Piastri helping each other

So will Norris become a number one driver going forward? "No. I still need to earn it. I still need to go out there and drive quicker than everyone," Norris told GPblog and others in Belgium. But Norris doesn't believe it should be a thing. "I don't think that that changes anything. I don't know why now, at this point, all of a sudden where you have a bias. We've never had the bias in the team," Norris added. 

Piastri himself is not ruling himself out of the Championship fight, but does acknowledge he might need to play a supportive role should the situation arise. "I want to try and get myself up as high as I can, but ultimately, I race for McLaren, and they have the ultimate say. I'm going to try and make up as many points as I can. Of course, we're still very early in the season, and I'm a long way behind in the driver's standings, but I'm also not out of it," Piastri said.

"If they need me to be a team player and try and help Lando, then of course I'll do that. But I think the biggest thing is trying to score the most points of all the teams and win the constructors. I think that's definitely the biggest opportunity we have," Piastri concluded who sees McLaren just 51 points shy of Red Bull's total.