Oscar Piastri admits McLaren are facing one ‘impossible’ issue amid title fight with Lando Norris

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Oscar Piastri believes McLaren have ‘done as good a job as they can’ at managing their two drivers this season. He’s been battling Lando Norris for the F1 title since the start of the year.

Speaking on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast, Piastri said that McLaren have treated him fairly and equally. This is despite accusations in the paddock that Norris has received preferential treatment.

Those accusations were sparked by the Italian GP, where Piastri had to give up second place after his teammate’s slow pit stop. Norris had allowed him to come in first.

A couple of races later in Singapore, Piastri challenged the team on the radio after Norris bumped past at the start and was allowed to keep the place. There was a brief punishment for the Briton, who became McLaren’s number two driver in qualifying at the US GP.

Oscar Piastri says McLaren can’t keep both drivers happy after on-track incidents

The two McLaren drivers have crashed twice this season. In Canada, Norris tagged the back of Piastri’s car and found the wall, but his teammate was able to continue.

More recently, they tangled at the start of the USA Sprint, with Norris the unfortunate victim of Piastri’s contact with Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber.

Martin Brundle was critical of Piastri for aggressively cutting back in an attempt to pass Norris, and the team agreed that he was predominantly at fault – even if no penalty was issued. They removed Norris’ aforementioned punishment as a result.

Piastri says it’s ‘impossible’ for McLaren to keep both drivers completely happy after an incident like this.

“I don’t think it’s that difficult [to keep things equal between teammates],” he said. “It’s the way we’ve always operated.

“It’s obviously difficult when you’re racing your teammate. Things have happened this year, we’ve come together a couple of times.

“Those kinds of situations for a team, it is very difficult to keep everyone happy. There’s ultimately going to be at least one person that isn’t going to be happy, no matter how you tackle the scenario. It’s impossible.

“I think the team have done a very good job on the whole of trying to be as fair as possible, as equal as possible. In terms of the equipment we’ve had this year, it’s been identical.

“I think the team has done as good a job as they can of trying to be fair and trying to treat each other equally.”

Did Oscar Piastri disagree with one McLaren decision in Sao Paulo?

Piastri’s interview was recorded before the Sao Paulo GP, a potentially decisive weekend in the F1 title race. He once again crashed out of the Sprint, this time on his own, and finished fifth in the race after a 10-second penalty.

With Norris picking up maximum points, the gap at the top has now widened to 24 with just three rounds to go.

Mark Webber insists Piastri’s motivation is still high despite what he calls a ‘tough run’. He plans to ‘get him turned around’ before the final triple-header.

In the team’s upcoming debriefs at the factory, Piastri may question McLaren’s ride-height change. They raised the car after his Sprint crash as a protective measure, but he appeared to disagree with the move.