Karun Chandhok ‘thinks’ McLaren driver Lando Norris is overshadowing a Formula 1 rival so far in 2024. But his dominance is only ‘on the face of it’ and is not that deep.
The 24-year-old has enjoyed a solid start to the year and is now a Grand Prix winner, as well. Norris stood on the top step of a podium for the first time in Formula 1 at the Miami GP. The Briton capitalised on the safety car at Hard Rock Stadium before pulling away from the field.
Norris had already enjoyed two podium finishes over the opening five rounds of the season, too. The McLaren ace secured P3 in the Australian GP and P2 in the Chinese GP. Norris also got pole position for the F1 Sprint at the Shanghai International Circuit in a rain-soaked SQ3.
Karun Chandhok thinks Lando Norris is ‘on the face of it’ overshadowing Oscar Piastri
His results during the opening six rounds saw Norris go to the Emilia Romagna GP this week sat fourth in the drivers’ standings. The Bristol-born pilot has posted 83 points, the same as Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Norris heads Sainz for P4 having taken a P2, rather than two P3s.
Norris also has more than double the points that his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, has secured so far this year. The 23-year-old only boasts 41 points to sit sixth in the standings. Piastri has also not finished higher than P4 in the Saudi Arabian GP and in the Australian GP.
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So, ‘on the face of it’, Chandhok admits Norris has overshadowed Piastri in the McLaren this year. But the Sky Sports pundit notes that Piastri would likely have finished second in Miami without the safety car. The pace margin between Norris and Piastri in qualifying is also tight.
“I think so,” Chandhok admitted on Sky Sports F1 (18/5, 12:08). “On the face of it, that is the case. People point out the points and say he’s got less than half the points of Lando.
“Let’s not forget [that] in Miami he was ahead of Lando. [Piastri] was ahead of the Ferraris and without the safety car, he probably was on course to finish second because he overtook [Charles] Leclerc on track and was quicker than him.
“So, he would have been probably behind [Max] Verstappen there and then the points table looks a bit different.
“In qualifying, he’s down. He’s 6-2 down across the Sprint and main qualifying sessions, so he is down. But the delta between them is not much, you’re talking about 0.13 of a second between them. So, when you look at it on the face of it, he is a bit down.”
Oscar Piastri has not been McLaren’s lead driver since the Saudi Arabian GP
Norris’ victory at the Miami GP saw him open a 42-point advantage over Piastri at McLaren in 2024. He also went to Hard Rock Stadium boasting a 20-point margin over the Australian after five rounds. Norris arrived in Florida with 58 points to the 38 that Piastri had secured.
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The McLaren drivers also sat fifth and sixth in the championship standings before the Miami GP. Piastri last finished a round ahead of Norris in the table at his home Australian GP when he boasted 28 points to Norris’ 27. But Piastri last had the edge over Norris in Saudi Arabia.
Piastri left Jeddah with a four-point lead over Norris in the McLaren garage after the team’s strategy derailed Norris’ race. The Papaya squad opted to let the Briton run long following a safety car period. But it meant Norris could not finish higher than P8 after eventually pitting.
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