McLaren driver Lando Norris scored his fourth podium of the season at the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend. Norris had an opportunity to win the race but ended up finishing second behind Max Verstappen.
The British driver initially hung back in third place but picked up speed as the first intermediate stint went on. He passed both Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell to take the lead.
However, when the safety car came out following a crash for Logan Sargeant, McLaren’s hesitation was costly. They missed a split-second opportunity to call him into the pits, and by the time he came in a lap later, it was too late.
Norris fell back to third place, though he was at least able to take second from Russell after his compatriot made a mistake. F1 expert Peter Windsor likened him to McLaren predecessor Jenson Button, who won the race back in 2011.
The 24-year-old now leads teammate Oscar Piastri 7-2 in the race head-to-head at McLaren. Piastri scored a rare victory in that battle in Monaco as he qualified and finished in P2, with Norris fourth.
With nine races gone, the more experienced driver sits three places (P3 vs P6) and 50 points ahead in the championship. The expectation is that F1 sophomore Piastri will narrow the gap over time as he gains experience.
Tom Coronel says Oscar Piastri needs to learn to manage tyres
Speaking on the Racing News 365 podcast, racing driver Tom Coronel argued that Piastri needs to improve his tyre management if he’s to reach the level of Norris and co. This has previously been identified as a problem area for the Australian.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted that he had some ‘inconsistencies’, at least compared to Norris, when it came to looking after the rubber. And team principal Andrea Stella held talks with Piastri over the weakness following the Chinese Grand Prix.
Coronel believes he still hasn’t made sufficient improvements. While his rivals can continue to push until the end of a stint, he ‘collapses like a pudding’.
He says Piastri should have been able to iron this out of his driving by now. The Canadian GP marked his 31st race start, which puts him 82 behind Norris.
“You can just see that he can’t keep up with the pace in the long runs and that he is really eating away at his tyres,” Coronel said. “Norris, for example, is much better at that, because he has a little more feeling for it.
“You see that with all those top drivers, so with a Norris, Verstappen or Hamilton. Those types of drivers can simply handle their tyres much better, but with Piastri it just takes too long.
“I actually expected him to realize it by now, but it’s the same story every time. At the end of his stint we just see him collapse like a pudding!”
Piastri reveals which F1 team he supported as a child
Much as Piastri may not be the finished article just yet, he’s still generating plenty of excitement in the paddock. His compatriot Alan Jones believes he can follow in his footsteps by winning the world championship.
Piastri is under contract at McLaren until the end of 2026 after signing an extension last summer. But he’s bound to attract interest from other teams.
Indeed, Red Bull have apparently identified him as a potential successor to Verstappen. Helmut Marko will only have fuelled the speculation after he called the McLaren driver line-up the best on the grid in a recent interview.
And intriguingly, Piastri has revealed that he actually supported Red Bull when he was growing up. He may one day emulate his manager Mark Webber by racing for the world champions.
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