Damon Hill has named which McLaren driver holds ‘the edge’ ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continue their fight to lead the F1 team.
It was at Suzuka just six months ago that Piastri secured his debut podium finish as a Grand Prix driver. The 22-year-old finished the 2023 race in third place, behind Max Verstappen of Red Bull plus teammate Norris in second, during his 16th round with McLaren in Formula 1.
Piastri also doubled up on his podium results just two weeks after the 2023 Japanese GP at the Qatar GP. He became the first F1 pilot since Lewis Hamilton in 2007 to stand on multiple rostrums as a rookie. The Australian secured P2 in Lusail, where Piastri even won the Sprint.
Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris on 28 points to 27 ahead of the 2024 Japanese GP
Norris is still yet to win a race of any kind since debuting in Formula 1 with McLaren at the 2019 Australian GP. He has now achieved 14 podiums after finishing third in Melbourne in March. Seven of the 24-year-old’s rostrums have been in second place with six last season.
His podium in the 2024 Australian GP was still not enough for Norris to surpass Piastri in the drivers’ standings, however. Piastri holds a one-point advantage over his McLaren teammate ahead of the Japanese GP with 28 to Norris’ 27. They are also in fifth and sixth place overall.
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Piastri holds a slender advantage thanks to finishing P4 in the Saudi Arabian GP and also the Australian GP. The Australian opened the campaign with P8 in the Bahrain GP, where Norris finished in P6 in Sakhir. McLaren’s strategy meant the Briton dropped down to P8 in Jeddah.
Damon Hill feels Lando Norris ‘still’ has ‘the edge’ in the inner-McLaren driver fight
McLaren’s strategy nearly saw Piastri finish the 2023 Japanese GP ahead of Norris, too, after pitting the Melbourne native first. Stopping on Lap 13 meant Piastri undercut his teammate, who pitted on Lap 17. But their tyre management saw the race swing back in Norris’ favour.
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Now, 1996 F1 champion Hill – who won his title at the Japanese GP – believes McLaren have two ‘strong’ drivers in Norris and Piastri. He also feels Norris ‘still’ boasts the advantage over Piastri on skill, albeit partly from this week being his 108th Grand Prix entry to Piastri’s 26th.
“They’ve got two strong drivers and they’ve got competition between them,” Hill told Sky Sports F1 (5/4, 08:40). “But I still think Lando has got the edge, probably experience and confidence a little bit, maybe. But, you know, Oscar is no slouch.”
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