Rival F1 bosses think Oscar Piastri ‘had the right’ to be upset with McLaren over one Lando Norris decision

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Oscar Piastri now leads the Formula 1 world championship by 34 points. That’s after a seismic Dutch Grand Prix where he took victory and teammate Lando Norris retired.

Heading into Zandvoort, the consensus was that Norris and Piastri would battle until the final race. The gap had never exceeded 22, and the former had chipped it down to nine before the summer break.

Now, though, there’s a strong possibility Piastri clinches his maiden title with a round to spare. If he holds his current lead, then he’d win it after the Qatar Sprint in December.

McLaren have granted Norris and Piastri significant freedom this year, allowing them to prioritise their individual interests. The onus is on the former to take risks in the final nine races if he wants to mount one of the great comebacks of recent years.

McLaren rivals question why Lando Norris enjoyed strategic advantage in Hungary

Norris was on a run of three wins in four races before his Zandvoort retirement, having prevailed in an intense battle at the Hungarian GP. Piastri hunted him down and reached the DRS zone for the last few laps, but couldn’t execute a move.

Piastri started ahead and eventually took the lead from Charles Leclerc, with Norris falling to fifth on the opening lap. While the Australian followed the two-stop strategy that was preferred before the race, his teammate was permitted to try a one-stop.

Contrary to expectations, Norris’ approach proved to be quicker. Without Piastri necessarily doing anything wrong, he lost out to his teammate.

As noted by BBC Sport’s Andrew Benson, the standard team-management arrangement is to favour the lead driver strategically. As such, some believe that, ‘by rights’, the Budapest win was his.

Piastri gave no indication that he viewed Norris’ win as unfair. But ‘senior people in other teams’ think he had a right to be upset.

Oscar Piastri is using Nico Rosberg tactic to beat Lando Norris

McLaren are doing things differently to Mercedes, the last team who had to manage two drivers going for the title. Toto Wolff insisted, at least initially, that his two drivers follow the same strategy.

There are similarities between Piastri and Rosberg. They share an obsession with studying data and, given that they occupy the same garage as their main rival, they have total access.

Rosberg won his one and only title in 2016 at the age of 31. He abruptly retired thereafter, whereas Piastri will be confident of winning multiple championships from here.

As pointed out by Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren aren’t guaranteed to be competitive under the new rules next year, so it’s vital that their drivers seize this chance. Of course, both would likely attract interest from elsewhere if the Woking outfit ever fail to satisfy their ambitions.