What McLaren have been thinking about Oscar Piastri internally ‘for a long time’ amid Lando Norris’s title charge

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Twelve months ago, McLaren would have never had expected to be in a title fight but Lando Norris’s victory at Zandvoort has put them in the frame for both championships.

Lando Norris winning the Drivers’ Championship still seems very unlikely as Max Verstappen has a 70-point lead but the team standings are much closer.

McLaren could overtake Red Bull at the Italian Grand Prix if results go their way and given the way Sergio Perez is performing, he’s struggling to score the necessary points to keep his team at the top of the table.

Andrea Stella and Zak Brown will understand the opportunity in front of them to win the Constructors’ Championship this year but in the back of their minds, they’ll wonder if they can secure both titles.

Speaking on The F1 Strategy Report Podcast, journalist Lawrence Barretto provided an update on the feeling within the McLaren team.

Sooner rather than later, if McLaren feel that Norris can challenge Verstappen, then a decision needs to be made on Oscar Piastri’s role for the rest of the campaign.

The young Australian has been phenomenal this season, winning his first Grand Prix in Hungary.

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

However, Piastri didn’t have his best race at Zandvoort and may need to play the number two role at McLaren for the rest of the season.

Barretto believes that McLaren have been thinking about this move for a long time but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll action it yet.

McLaren may ask Oscar Piastri to be Lando Norris’s number-two driver

Asked about Piastri’s role at McLaren for the rest of the season and whether he needs to start acting like a number two driver to Norris for the rest of the season, Barretto said: “I think, honestly, they’ve been thinking about that internally for a long time now anyway.

“Their preference publicly and actually still to their drivers is just crack on for now.

“But I do think that the manner of the result at the weekend, the way that Lando put a lot of pressure on himself heading into the summer break that he said he made a load of mistakes, he wasn’t driving like a world champion, the manner in which he returned, the way that he got the job done in qualifying, he was so, so convincing in the race.

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

“I think Lando was trying to send a message to the team there that Drivers’ Championship’s on and we’ve got to make a call.

“I think he’s putting pressure on in a positive way on the team to make that call.

“I think they’ll be pragmatic in trying to throw everything at it and if that means a difficult chat with Oscar at some point, when, I’m not sure, I think they’ll do it and I think Oscar will take it in the way that he is so mature and will understand that it has to be like that.”

McLaren could be unbeatable at four more tracks this season

The battle between McLaren and Red Bull could go down to the wire meaning the performance of both drivers over the next nine weekends is going to be vital.

Perez hasn’t secured a top-five finish since the Miami Grand Prix and if that run continues until the finale in Abu Dhabi then it won’t matter how many points Verstappen scores.

McLaren have been told they could be unbeatable at four more tracks coming up this year and if that’s the case then the team will need to decide whether to let their two drivers race or whether Norris should be prioritised.

They may already be questioning whether denying Norris seven points at the Hungaroring may end up harming his title credentials.