Martin Brundle gives honest verdict on Oscar Piastri letting Lando Norris pass at the Italian Grand Prix

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McLaren were in the middle of the biggest talking point of an otherwise incident-free Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen once again proved why he was a four-time world champion, driving brilliantly at the Italian Grand Prix to win his third race of the season.

It looked like the Tifosi might be able to celebrate a Ferrari driver on the podium at one point, with Charles Leclerc getting the better of championship leader Oscar Piastri during the opening laps.

However, Piastri eventually got past the Monegasque driver and started to try and chase down McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

He wasn’t making a dent in Norris’ lead, and the Brit couldn’t get any closer to Verstappen at the front of the grid.

With no threat from the cars behind, Verstappen eventually pitted, leaving McLaren’s drivers in first and second.

The biggest point of drama from the race then occurred during McLaren’s only set of stops, and Piastri agreed to a move that might eventually lead to him losing the drivers’ championship.

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

Martin Brundle says Oscar Piastri giving Lando Norris his place back at the Italian Grand Prix was ‘fair’

Piastri was asked to pit one lap before Norris, but ultimately told that he wasn’t racing his teammate in an effort to undercut him.

McLaren produced a 1.9-second stop, one of the fastest of the season, before Norris pitted the following lap.

The front-left wheel gun appeared to fail, delaying Norris and letting Piastri through, leading to a tactical conundrum for Zak Brown and Andrea Stella.

Piastri’s engineer then sent him a radio message and said: “This is a bit like Hungary last year, we pitted in this order for team reasons.

“Please let Lando pass, then you’re free to race.”

Piastri didn’t sound happy and replied: “I mean… we said that a slow pit stop was part of racing, so I don’t really get what changed here. But I’ll do it to help him.”

Covering the race for Sky Sports F1 (7/9 3:11 pm) commentator David Croft said: “Fair play to Oscar Piastri, he said his piece, he made his point, and he did what the team asked him to do.”

Martin Brundle then gave his verdict and explained: “Yeah, honestly, I think that’s fair. They both played the team game; he didn’t get the 1.9-second pit stop, but now they’re free to race.

“At least it’s brought Oscar into position to have a race. He was about 3.4 seconds behind before the pit stop phase.”

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

What are the F1 drivers’ championship implications for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after Monza?

Piastri went into the Italian Grand Prix with a 34-point lead over Norris after his DNF at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Norris was warned by Brundle before the race about making any crazy moves to try and reduce the deficit, and followed that advice by not doing anything silly to defend from Verstappen when the Red Bull was clearly the faster car.

Piastri has admitted that one aspect of his lead over Norris is surprising, and he could have extended his lead to 37 points with eight race weekends to go had he held onto the position.

Instead, he handed it back, and now Norris is only 31 points behind going into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Whether that gap can be overcome is another matter, but Piastri might question whether he made the right decision if he loses the title by three points or less.