Former F1 driver sees change in McLaren drivers' order: 'Cracked the code'
F1 News
While Andrea Stella so far in 2024 refused to make decisions on track based his two drivers' positioning in the world championship standings, Lando Norris has seemed to be just ahead of his teammate Oscar Piastri early on in the 2024 season. However, in the last few races, the Australian managed to outscore Norris. Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok does see this trend continue after the summer break.
Lando Norris is currently in P2 in the drivers' standings, behind the defending champion Max Verstappen by 78 points. The Briton leads his teammate, Piastri, by 32 points at the moment. However, the Indian pundit sees the Australian closing the gap to his more experienced teammate. "Budapest was a real standout moment again. Not because he won, but because the manner that he drove the first 40 laps of that race. Last year, Budapest, he was really struggling. He had terrible tyre wear. He just dropped off the cliff and was really struggling," Chandhok began on The Fast and the Curious podcast.
Chandhok continued with further praising the first driver born after the year 2000 to win a Formula One GP: "I thought, 'okay, he's cracked it.' He's got his head around this Formula One thing. And I think that was a big, big day for him to lay down a marker that he is an equal to Lando."
Chandhok bets on Piastri
According to the former driver who drove for HRT and Lotus, the Australian driver could also have a more successful stint after the summer break. Moreover, as Piastri is competing in his second year, there will be no new tracks left for him to compete at. "I think there will be races still on a Sunday where Lando will have a slight edge. I think in qualifying they are equal, actually. But I would probably say that in the second half of the year, I take a little punt and say that Oscar will outscore Lando."