Oscar Piastri has ‘no interest’ in Lando Norris’ title bid, claims Martin Brundle

McLaren is set to reassess their ‘papaya rules’ following Monza.

Oscar Piastri has “no interest” in Lando Norris winning the World title nor will it excite him if his team-mate achieves the feat, but that doesn’t mean he won’t “help out” if called upon.

Martin Brundle confesses his admiration for the Aussie’s “killer instinct” attitude, despite doing nothing to aid at the Italian Grand Prix.

McLaren had ‘perfect team play’, until they didn’t

Piastri lined up on the Monza grid in second place having missed out on pole position by a tenth of a second to his team-mate Norris. But it was the Hungarian Grand Prix winner who was leading at the end of Lap 1.

Although Norris made a good start off the line to lead the way through the first chicane, McLaren’s “papaya rules” in play as the team-mates kept it clean, Piastri attacked into the second chicane and not only took the lead but compromised Norris enough that Charles Leclerc also snuck through.

For the majority of the Grand Prix, Norris was competing for the first and second position. He was informed that he could challenge his teammate for the lead, but he must keep in mind the “papaya rules”.

However, as Ferrari opted for a one-stop strategy for Leclerc, the Scuderia emerged victorious in the race, leading a McLaren 2-3 spearheaded by Piastri.

The telling McLaren F1 2024 team-mate stats

F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Brundle experienced “perfect team play” from the start, until suddenly, it wasn’t.

However, the ex-F1 driver who is now a commentator, says he “admires” Piastri’s “killer instinct”, even though it resulted in Norris losing three points in his competition with Max Verstappen.

“This looked like perfect team play from the two McLaren boys covering all the road and exiting the danger zone comfortably first and second. But that didn’t last long,” he wrote in his Sky F1 column.

Norris approached the second chicane with caution, applying the brakes, as Piastri swiftly overtook him from the outside. Norris promptly let go of the brakes, but Piastri remained persistent on the outside, seizing the lead just as their cars nearly collided.

Norris slid slightly sideways, slowing his exit. Charles Leclerc didn’t waste any time, skirting right up against the grass to quickly snatch second place as they approached the first Lesmo corner.

It’s evident that Piastri is indifferent to Norris’ World Championship prospects against Max Verstappen, a fact previously observed in Hungary when he confidently took the lead at the first corner.

I admire this mentality as a racer. It’s the reason Piastri became a champion and got to drive a race-winning F1 car. The prospect of Norris becoming World Champion in the same car is what will thrill him the most.

This doesn’t imply that he won’t assist eventually or that he hasn’t already provided assistance sporadically, but the mentality of a racer and the killer instinct are crucial.

During my commentary in Hungary, I recall questioning whether Piastri would have given the lead back to Norris if the situations were switched. I am uncertain about the answer. However, I am sure that many unmerciful and self-centered World Champions I competed against would not have done so.

“Brundle added, “Norris trails Verstappen by 62 points in the Drivers’ Championship. The gap could have been only 52 points if McLaren had recently demanded Piastri to yield.”

“They were not interested in doing that. They believe Norris may not necessarily want to win a championship with a compliant teammate. However, it will be fascinating to see how things unfold if they genuinely want to exert pressure on Red Bull and Max.”

Read next: F1 2024 power rankings: Charles Leclerc breaks into top three, Perez on the move