F1 champion outlines Piastri ‘weakness’ as McLaren ace issued Norris challenge

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Nico Rosberg believes Oscar Piastri must prove he can beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris over a full season before believing the Australian can be a Formula 1 champion.

The 22-year-old has earned rave reviews so far this season for his remarkable rookie year for McLaren. Piastri is now a Formula 1 race winner of sorts after taking the Sprint victory at the Qatar GP. He even also started the Sprint on pole position at the Lusail International Circuit.

Piastri further followed his Sprint win up by scoring his best Grand Prix result to date with P2 in Qatar. It even also came after the Melbourne native claimed his first Grand Prix podium in Japan in P3. He had only previously scored a top-three result in P2 for the Belgian GP Sprint.

Piastri has enjoyed a brilliant rookie F1 season with McLaren

McLaren nearly saw Piastri secure them a double home podium finish at the British GP back in July, too. He finished in P4 at Silverstone after a late safety car period gave Lewis Hamilton a cheap pit stop. But it saw Piastri emerge as a front-runner with McLaren’s major upgrades.

The Woking squad starting the year with one of the slowest cars on the grid let Piastri adjust to Formula 1. He had spent the previous year on the sidelines with Alpine after securing the 2021 Formula 2 title. It put a halt on Piastri’s rapid rise having won the 2020 Formula 3 title.

Rosberg wants Piastri to prove he can beat Norris all season

Upgrades launching the Papaya team from the back of the grid to McLaren emerging as Red Bull’s most consistent rival have also drawn suggestions that Piastri could one day rival Max Verstappen for the title. But Rosberg wants Piastri to prove he can better Norris all year first.

The 2016 Formula 1 champion also feels Piastri still has room to improve despite his brilliant first year with McLaren. Piastri has sometimes struggled with his tyre management during a Grand Prix. For example, that allowed Norris to charge past Piastri for P2 at the Japanese GP.

“It’s a little bit early days still,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1. “Let’s start with being a Sunday race winner. He has a great chance of being a multiple-race winner.

“Champion? Let’s wait with that because this year he’s shown some weakness with race pace a little bit still, which is normal. It’s normal for rookies to struggle in some different areas and he’s up against one of the best out there, which is Lando Norris.

“I haven’t yet seen that he could definitely beat Lando over the whole season. So, we need to give him some more time. But let’s start with [Piastri becoming a] multiple-race winner.”