Piastri's Mom Reveals Why Her Son Wanted Norris To Be His First Teammate

Friday, 09 August 2024 at 16:00

Oscar Piastri's mother, Nicole Piastri, revealed why her son wanted Lando Norris as his first teammate in Formula 1.

The Australian driver Oscar Piastri joined McLaren Racing in 2023 (his first season in F1) and became teammates with one of F1's fastest drivers- Lando Norris.

During her recent podcast appearance, the 23-year-old's mother, Nicole Piastri, revealed what her son said when she asked him who he would pick as a teammate. She told the Red Flags Podcast:

“"I'd had that conversation with Oscar, I'm like if you had to pick a teammate, who would you pick? And he's like, 'Well, going up against Lando would be the best move,' not that Oscar had a choice."”

When Piastri made the choice to go to McLaren, the British team wasn't doing very well. In fact, the Papaya team finished behind Alpine (which wanted to sign him as well) in 2022.

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Could Norris, as a teammate, have been one of the reasons why the Australian chose McLaren? We might not know, but his mom also shared the reason he gave her for wanting to be teammates with the 24-year-old.

“"But we had had this exact conversation. He said, 'If I go up against Lando, I don't even have to get close the first year because everyone knows how good Lando is.'"”

Piastri was indeed beaten by Norris in his first season by quite a margin—108 points. In that season, the more experienced McLaren driver amassed more than double the amount of what a 23-year-old could—97 points vs. 205 points.

However, McLaren was more than satisfied with the Aussie's performance in 2023. He won his first sprint race in Qatar and also won the Rookie of the Year award.

In 2024, he took a step forward. Although he is losing the head-to-head battle with his teammate, Piastri is only 22 points behind after 14 Grand Prix weekends and might still finish on top at the end of the season.