1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill believes Lando Norris will be feeling a sense of “displacement” as Oscar Piastri outscores him.
Oscar Piastri has eclipsed Lando Norris’ performance levels recently, and has closed in more on his teammate’s lead over him in the Drivers’ Championship than Norris has managed on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Damon Hill: It’s a difficult one for Lando Norris
Since McLaren claimed their first win of F1 2024 as Lando Norris beat Verstappen to victory in Miami, the British driver has been earmarked as Verstappen’s closest challenger for the title.
On that day in Miami, Verstappen’s championship lead was 56 points, with the gap now at 59 points following Norris pulling back three points in Azerbaijan.
But, behind Norris, Piastri has been closing the gap more quickly on his teammate than Norris has been managing on Verstappen. With victory in Hungary, it’s released the floodgates of more consistent performance for Piastri as he claimed second place in Belgium, second place in Monza, and an emphatic win in Azerbaijan – Norris coming out on top in Zandvoort as he romped to victory after catching and passing Verstappen.
But Piastri’s form is such that he’s hauling himself into contention as lead McLaren driver and an outside chance for the title, presenting McLaren with a headache as it attempts to give Norris a “bias” if opportunities present themselves to favour him in terms of results.
Norris has put in the hard yards with McLaren, joining the team in 2019 and being with the squad through its rebuild under CEO Zak Brown and team bosses Andreas Seidl and Andrea Stella, but his positioning as the de facto leader of the outfit has come under threat as Piastri threatens his authority – and Damon Hill says he believes Norris is finding that difficult.
.webp)
