Oscar Piastri has responded to comments made by Australian Formula 1 legend Alan Jones critiquing Lando Norris’ mentality.
Piastri leads Norris by 10 points in the Drivers’ standings on the back of two successive victories.
The Australian has three race victories to Norris’ one, with his more experienced team-mate struggling to extract the maximum from the McLaren MCL39 in clutch moments.
Norris, too, has worn his heart on his sleeve in a series of scathing self-critiques in conversations with the media.
Alan Jones brands Norris ‘mentally a weak person’
In conversation with The Back Page on Fox Sports, Jones, the 1980 F1 Drivers’ Champion, questioned Norris’ mental approach.
“There’s no doubt about that [how quick Norris is],” he said.
“But mentally, I think he’s quite a weak person. He’s coming out with all this nonsense that he’s got a bit of a mental thing, he’s dwelling on some of the problems he’s had rather than the positives.
“When they start talking all that nonsense, you know you’ve got them.”
On the other hand, Jones sung his countryman Piastri praises.
“Oscar is a pretty strong-minded young kid. I love him. He doesn’t show off, he doesn’t dance all over the place. He’s just a strong individual and that’s exactly what we need to get the job done,” he said.
“He’s got an old head on young shoulders. He’s very, very mature. He’s very laid back. He’s not easily ruffled, whereas I think his team-mate is a little bit the opposite way.
“I think the team-mate could be blown out quite easily and I think Oscar will take advantage of that.
“He’s got the brains and the strength to do that. He’s very laid back, he doesn’t say much and he gets on with it, which I love.
“Out of the car he’s quiet, but when he gets in the car he grows horns and that’s what you want.”
Piastri acknowledges ‘people handle things differently’
Piastri, as Jones said, is an extremely cool customer.
Norris, meanwhile, wears his emotions more on the surface, but his McLaren team-mate acknowledged in response to Jones’ words that despite there differences, there’s nor “right or wrong” approach.
“For me, the most important thing is to try and do things in the style that’s most natural to you,” Piastri told select media, including Motorsport Week ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
“When you start trying to do things that aren’t your natural way of being a person, that’s when things become confusing. That’s when things start to go wrong.
“So I think everyone handles that differently. I think Lando handles that quite differently to how I handle it.
“But I think probably a lot of the emotions across the grid that happen, regardless of whether they’re in the public or not, are probably pretty similar.
“I think that’s just kind of how we’re wired as people, as competitors.
“But obviously there’s different emotions and different ways of dealing with that. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way. I think it’s very individual to the person.
“I think, again, I’m quite different probably at the other end of the spectrum. But again, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of dealing with it.
“Because that’s what you feel is the best way of either venting or trying to reset yourself.
“Lando knows himself much better than I and probably all of us do.”
READ MORE – McLaren admits Lando Norris & Oscar Piastri clash is inevitable
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