Piastri: “No barriers” in Norris relationship essential for McLaren's F1 progress

McLaren missed its winter development targets and failed to score a point in the opening two rounds of the 2023 season. This came as rookie Piastri acclimatised to life in the championship.

Piastri settled and found his form while the MCL60 was heavily upgraded. He then ultimately beat Norris to winning his first F1 race - with Piastri scoring victory in the Qatar Grand Prix sprint event.

That personal progress - and the development of the team, which allowed it to occasionally challenge Red Bull for wins – could result in a more closed-off dynamic between Piastri and Norris.

But speaking exclusively to Autosport, Piastri says the pair must stay “completely open” with one another by sharing data if they are to help drive the entire McLaren team forward.

“The relationship is still exactly the same,” said Piastri. “Of course, we're not winning [titles] at the moment. We're a lot closer than we were, but we still need to find that bit more to challenge and to beat Red Bull.

“So, it's still very important for us to work together and help the team develop the car.

“The team back at MTC and the engineers here are all doing their best to try and help things. But if me and Lando have got any additional info or directions on things, then anything we can do to help is going to help both of us.

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Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG George Russell, Mercedes-AMG Lando Norris, McLaren Oscar Piastri, McLaren

“In terms of data and stuff like that, it's all completely open. There are no barriers or anything and that won't change.

“We just need to make sure that our racing is respectful. But apart from that, it's all good.”

Reflecting on McLaren’s poor start to 2023, Piastri reckoned it more quickly shifted focus to how he compared against Norris rather than allowing him to learn towards the back of the grid and away from the limelight.

He continued: “I was still always going to be compared to Lando, whether we were fighting for last and second last or first and second. So, those comparisons were always still going to be there.

“But maybe in terms of outright results, maybe there wasn't quite the pressure to achieve big points or podiums or whatever straight away. But that comparison was still there.

“I was still trying to learn as quickly as I could and try and help the team the best I could. It didn't really lessen things.”