Jolyon Palmer pinpoints two moments that have saved Lando Norris’ F1 championship hopes against Oscar Piastri

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The McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri find themselves firmly in the midst of a championship battle at the midpoint of the season.

Lando Norris has clawed his way back from the 22-point deficit held over him by Oscar Piastri following his DNF at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

The McLaren pair clashed at turn 1 in Montreal, which was of stark similarity to Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button’s encounter with one another in 2011.

Following consecutive victories in Spielberg and Silverstone for the British driver, the gap has now closed to just eight points, and the drivers’ championship is seemingly anyone’s to play for with 12 rounds remaining on the calendar.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown challenged his drivers with a ‘may the best man win’ verdict on the championship following Norris’ maiden home victory at Silverstone.

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Lando Norris’ results in recent Grands Prix have brought it back to a ’50/50 split’ with Oscar Piastri

Jolyon Palmer has noted two moments this season which has shown Norris’ resilience against Piastri and brought him back into a championship fight, which could have easily slipped from the 25-year-old’s grasp in recent Grands Prix.

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Palmer said, “You’ve got Austria: they’re wheel-to-wheel for 20 laps. Oscar takes the lead momentarily, and if he holds on to that lead, the gap’s going to balloon out.

“Instead, Lando manages to out-race him and then win the race. The penalty [at Silverstone] was really harsh on Oscar. It’s a tough decision that falls towards Lando.

“So the performance gap between them is so close, but the last two races have just brought it down. I still think, performance-wise, it’s a split between them.”

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F1 championship battle between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris is ‘beautifully set’

Both drivers are hunting their first drivers’ championship, and with new regulations coming into effect for the 2026 season, the stakes are higher than ever for both Norris and Piastri, as there are no guarantees that they will be in machinery capable of challenging for glory.

“It’s beautifully set at an eight-point difference and a 50/50 split,” Palmer stated. “That’s where we’re at. Lando has pulled it back in the last couple of weekends.

“But, those weekends have been a toss-up on whether Oscar is going to take this right away from him or Lando narrows the gap.”

With Norris currently in the best position of his career to become a world champion, former F1 champion and fellow Brit Nigel Mansell has already sent Norris a message on what he’s ‘got to do’ in order to best his team-mate.

The next port of call for the F1 circus is the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, where we will see the McLaren pairing battle it out yet again for a leg-up in the standings. The last time the Woking-based constructor saw the chequered flag first in Belgium was with Jenson Button in 2012.