Oscar Piastri has denied he’s become a number two driver at McLaren amid Max Verstappen‘s claim that he is “too good” to be used in a supporting role in Formula 1.
McLaren revealed prior to last month’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix that Lando Norris would be prioritised over Piastri as the team sets its sights on a double championship.
Norris sits two positions above Piastri in the Drivers’ standings and is the closest contender to Verstappen, who holds a 52-point advantage with six events remaining.
Piastri, who has taken two victories this term compared to Norris’ three, has divulged that he would be prepared to give up a race win to boost his team-mate’s hopes.
However, Verstappen contends that Piastri is operating at too high a level to be shoehorned into that position and has argued that he wouldn’t accept it in his position.
But although he values the Dutchman’s respect towards him, Piastri has reiterated that he still has the same opportunities to acquire good results in the closing races.
“Personally I think Max is a pretty straightforward guy. He says what he thinks,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week. “We all know that.
“So I think in my position I don’t see it as being a number one, number two.
“If I put in good performances and deserve them on merit then as we’ve said before, Baku was the perfect example really.
“Or if I put in good performances and deserve them on merit I’m not giving up everything this season purely for the benefit of Lando.
“[I’m] trying to help the team as best as I can. So it’s not simply number one, number two.
“We still have the same car, we still have the same opportunities and last weekend [in Singapore] Lando did a better job than me and won the race.
“I appreciate his [Verstappen’s] support but it’s not really how I view it.”
Piastri details approach
Piastri has expressed that his attention is on obtaining good results in the upcoming races, which will have a natural impact on aiding Norris’ championship aspiration.
“I think for me trying to just go into every race and performing as best as I can is the biggest thing I can do,” he detailed.
“These circuits are ones I’ve only driven in F1 once for a lot of them in these next six races.
“There’s a lot of things that I want to try and work on from the last time I was here, 12 months ago.
“In Austin, I did five laps in the race, so I just have a lot of things to improve and figure out.
“But definitely just trying to improve and finish as high as I can. I think naturally if I do a good enough job then that’ll be firstly giving myself a good result.
“But if it’s a position to help Lando then that works as well, If the car’s capable of winning, which we hope it will be, then I want to try and win.
“And if I can’t win then I want to finish second and If I can’t finish second then I want to finish third.
“So I’m just trying to perform as best as I can and if it means that my finishing position helps out in the championship then that helps too.”
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