Oscar Piastri at the Mexican Grand Prix. Photo: RacePictures

Key detail spotted behind unusual Norris-Piastri performance gap

14:34, 04 Nov

byTobia Elia

Juan Pablo Montoya believes the recent performance gap between the two McLaren drivers comes down to a very specific factor.

“Each side of McLaren is focused on making their own driver win. McLaren isn’t deliberately favouring one driver.”

- Juan Pablo Montoya

Speaking on the MontoyAS podcast, the former Colombian driver believes the recent gap between Norris and Piastri comes solely down to different setup choices.

“Where are they sabotaging?” he wondered ironically. “The biggest difference is that Norris has a much looser balance than Piastri, which is why he’s faster. I think it comes down to McLaren; they needed to make changes and be more aggressive with their qualifying setup. They have enough race pace, but if they don’t get a good grid position, it doesn’t help them at all.”

He then added: “If you look at the telemetry in the middle of the corner, when Oscar turns the wheel, the car doesn’t rotate as much as Lando’s, and that’s what makes the difference. One car turns faster than the other. They’re two different balances. That doesn’t mean one is helping the other — McLaren isn’t deliberately favouring one driver.”

Oscar Piastri - Photo: Race Pictures

Finally, according to Montoya, McLaren’s goal is to give both drivers the best possible tools to win, not to favour one over the other.

“Each side of McLaren is focused on making their own driver win. It’s not like McLaren decided, ‘We’ll make Lando fast and slow Oscar down.’ They make changes, and both drivers try them. The idea is, let’s adjust the car to make it faster. One driver can handle it, the other struggles.”

The championship battle moves to Brazil

Last weekend in Mexico saw a shake-up at the top of the drivers’ standings, with Lando Norris claiming the championship lead. His dominant victory — 30 seconds clear of Leclerc and Verstappen — puts him just one point ahead of his teammate.

By contrast, the Australian endured a tough weekend, qualifying well off his teammate’s pace and finishing only fifth in the race, now cast in the role of chaser.

Here’s what the two McLaren drivers had to say ahead of the Interlagos weekend, another pivotal stage in the title battle.

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