Martin Brundle explains what he really ‘admires’ about Oscar Piastri after the Italian Grand Prix

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Oscar Piastri showed the world of Formula 1 once again in Monza that he takes zero prisoners once he’s behind the wheel of his McLaren.

McLaren led an extremely close qualifying session and were in the perfect position to dominate the Italian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris may have thought he had finally ended his run of failing to lead the first lap of a race when starting on pole position.

However, a daring lunge from Oscar Piastri going into the second chicane saw him storm into 1^st but compromise his teammate’s exit as a result.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

That opened the door to Charles Leclerc and with a Ferrari between the two McLarens, they could no longer control the narrative of the race through strategy.

Leclerc successfully pulled off a one-stop strategy that both McLaren drivers dismissed over the team radio and neither Piastri nor Norris could close the gap to the Monegasque driver.

Martin Brundle has written in his Sky Sports F1 column about the young Australian and backed his move in Monza.

Brundle said during the race that Piastri’s stance on Norris’s championship campaign was clear and it’s hard to disagree given the ruthlessness of his overtake.

Piastri may privately believe he’s still in the hunt for the championship despite the significant gap between him and Verstappen.

His behaviour may also point to the fact that he’s got no interest in playing second fiddle to Norris next year when McLaren look set to start the season as favourites.

Martin Brundle already admires McLaren star Oscar Piastri’s racecraft

Talking about the 23-year-old, Brundle said: “Piastri clearly has no interest in Norris’ world championship chances against Max Verstappen, which we’d already witnessed in Hungary when he firmly seized the lead in the first corner.

“The racer in me admires this attitude. That’s why Piastri won championships and ended up in a race-winning F1 car.

“The last thing which will excite him is Norris becoming world champion in the same car.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

“That doesn’t mean he won’t help out at some point, and indeed that he hasn’t helped out here and there already, but that racer’s mentality and killer instinct is all important.

“I remember saying in commentary in Hungary, if the roles had been reversed, would Piastri have handed Norris the lead back, and I really don’t know the answer.

“I do know that many ruthless and selfish world champions I’ve raced against wouldn’t have.”

Carlos Sainz sends warning to Lando Norris about Oscar Piastri

The modern world of Formula 1 is much friendlier than it used to be in the past.

There are plenty of rivalries down the years that resulted in drivers refusing to talk to each other, while Norris and Verstappen appear to be close friends away from the track.

Carlos Sainz has warned Norris that he can take nothing for granted with Piastri following his move at Monza.

McLaren have developed papaya rules to tell their drivers how they can race on the track.

Whether team principal Andrea Stella inserts a clause allowing Norris to take a position off Piastri in the future is yet to be seen.

Given how fast the Australian is, he may have to be forced to make way for Norris if he has aspirations of winning the Drivers’ Championship as Piastri is in no mood to hand him the title.