Piastri and Norris racing like champions in F1 title battle
The pair are 16 points apart in a two-horse race, with Australian Piastri leading McLaren's sixth one-two of the season in Belgium on Sunday and taking his sixth win of the campaign.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen is third but 81 points behind with his hopes of a fifth successive title fast receding.
There are 11 races left and the intra-team rivalry will be the major focus with McLaren set to retain the constructors' crown with ease as they now a massive 268 points clear of second-placed Ferrari.
Norris won in Britain after Piastri was penalised for braking erratically behind the safety car but the Australian triumphed at Spa by slipstreaming past from second on the grid.
"There is very, very little between our two drivers and this is because the two drivers are racing at a very, very high level," Stella told reporters.
"I think the difference will be made by the accuracy, the precision, the quality of the execution," added the Italian, who worked with champions at Ferrari and said Piastri and Norris were both operating at that level.
At Spa, the regular grid lineup was replaced by a rolling start in wet conditions after four laps behind the safety car, with Norris finding pole position was no real advantage once the race got going.
Piastri had discovered the same during the Saturday sprint, when Verstappen won from second on the grid after seizing the lead on the opening lap.
"We saw in Silverstone that an issue, a sporting issue for Oscar, during the safety car restart and the consequent penalty cost him the race," said Stella.
"Here we saw that, somehow related to the circuit characteristic, it would have been very difficult for Lando to keep the position, starting first at the safety car restart."
Stella discounted a battery problem that appeared to be an issue initially, saying a slight anomaly had occurred on both cars and Norris should not have been any worse off.
"It would have always been very difficult for Lando to keep the position starting first at the safety car restart, but at the same time I think Lando didn't help himself by not having a great gap...," he said.
"So I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference."
Piastri was not unhappy after qualifying second, observing that Spa was probably the best place not to have the best lap and planning his next move already.
"The move through Eau Rouge, I knew it was going to be by far my best opportunity to try and win the race. I'd been thinking about it for a while, put it that way," said the Australian.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lewis Hamilton on his relationship with Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur
Lewis Hamilton expressed absolute confidence in Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur after the Frenchman signed a new multi-year contract. Hamilton praised Vasseur's leadership style, noting his ability to empower individuals and create freedom for expression, similar to Toto Wolff. Despite Ferrari's lack of Grand Prix wins this season, Hamilton maintained that Vasseur was the right choice for the team. Hamilton, who has not secured a podium finish in 13 races with Ferrari, recently met with key figures at the company to outline his vision for improving performance. Ferrari confirmed Vasseur's contract extension, highlighting his proven ability to develop talent and build competitive teams, aiming to return the Scuderia to the top of Formula One.
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
F1 Hungarian GP LIVE: Practice schedule and start time with Fernando Alonso doubtful for Budapest race
F1 returns to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend, round 14 of the 2025 season and the last race before the summer break. Fernando Alonso has been ruled out of FP1 through injury, with Aston Martin sending in Felipe Drugovich as his replacement. Championship leader Oscar Piastri won the Belgian Grand Prix last time out, with an early overtake on McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris sealing his sixth victory of the season. The Australian now has a 16-point lead over the Briton. Charles Leclerc secured a podium finish for Ferrari, while Lewis Hamilton recovered from a pit-lane start to come home seventh. However, the seven-time world champion is still chasing a first podium for the Scuderia. Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the sprint race at the first race under new team principal Laurent Mekies, while Mercedes endured a weekend to forget. Piastri won last year's race in Hungary - his first F1 victory - after a contentious team order decision instructed Norris to give up the lead. Secret documents and a rallying cry: How Lewis Hamilton is trying to revive Ferrari Prior to a Belgian Grand Prix weekend to forget for Lewis Hamilton, whose last F1 win came here a year ago with Mercedes, the question posed to the Ferrari driver without a podium to his name this year was an innocuous one. His answer, however, was an unyielding message to his beleaguered Ferrari team. Asked whether he'd been at the Maranello factory in the last few weeks, Hamilton replied that he had. A 'couple of days each week', he detailed. Then, untriggered, the British driver, often so reluctant to reveal the inner workings of his mind, went into full disclosure mode. 'I've called on lots of meetings with the heads of the team, so I've sat with John [Elkann], Benedetto [Vigna] and Fred [Vasseur],' Hamilton said, referring to the Ferrari chair, CEO and team principal – the three-pronged executive team who lured the 40-year-old to the Scuderia. Secret documents and a rallying cry: How Lewis Hamilton is trying to revive Ferrari Hamilton endured a 'weekend to forget' in Spa but the seven-time world champion remains determined to end his F1 career on a high – and is already eyeing change for 2026 Jack Rathborn1 August 2025 10:36 Max Verstappen commits future to Red Bull for 2026 F1 season Max Verstappen has ended speculation over his short-term future by insisting he will stay at Red Bull for the 2026 F1 season. Four-time F1 world champion Verstappen, who has a £50m-a-deal until the end of the 2028 season, has been strongly linked with Mercedes in recent months ahead of a new set of F1 regulations next year, with the Silver Arrows the rumoured frontrunners. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has previously declared his interest in signing one of the sport's generational talents. Verstappen has also only won two races this year in a car which is the fourth-quickest on the grid and, as detailed by The Independent on Tuesday, the Dutchman has an exit clause allowing him to leave if he is lower than third in the drivers' standings by the summer break. Max Verstappen commits future to Red Bull for 2026 F1 season Verstappen, who has a £50m-a-year Red Bull deal until 2028, has been linked with a move to Mercedes Jack Rathborn1 August 2025 10:35 Fernando Alonso doubtful for Budapest race after injury Aston Martin statement: "In the days following the Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso has been managing a muscular injury in his back. As he continues with treatment this morning, he has chosen to sit out of FP1. 'Felipe Drugovich will drive in FP1 alongside Lance Stroll. A decision will then be made on Fernando's participation in FP2 and the remainder of the weekend in due course." Jack Rathborn1 August 2025 10:34 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix practice Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Friday's practice session ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. The 14th round of the 2025 season takes place at the Hungaroring this weekend, with Oscar Piastri holding a 16-point lead over teammate Lando Norris in the Drivers' Championship after last week's rain-hit race at Spa. Chris Wilson1 August 2025 10:34
The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Skoda teases Vision O concept car
Skoda has given the biggest clues yet to an electric future for the much-loved Skoda Octavia – just as The Independent revealed a month ago. The new Skoda Vision O concept car, set to be unveiled at the Munich Motor Show on September 8, will be a thinly disguised look at the next generation of Octavia, that's set to go electric. Speaking to The Independent in July, Skoda CEO Klaus Zellmer said, 'I'm really looking forward to sharing our Octavia concept car that will give a glimpse of what we see the next level of our design strategy will look like. 'From my point of view, it is going to create a lot of buzz and controversial discussion because the design is very much the way forward. The car is clearly recognisable as a Skoda, because it's a further step of our modern solid design language that we have established and now fully introduced with the Elroq. But it's another step.' Zellmer also also confirmed that the concept would be electric. While Skoda says that the name Vision O is 'derived from the concept of circularity' it's clear from the shape of the car in the first teaser image to be released, that the car is every inch an Octavia, still one of the brand's biggest-selling models. The concept previewed in the line drawing in our image is officially a sneak peek into the future of Skoda in the estate segment and will show an evolution of Skoda's Modern Solid design language Speaking about the concept Klaus Zellmer said, " The Skoda Vision O design study will highlight the future trajectory of estate models under the influence of new technologies, sustainability, and the deep experience of Skoda Auto in this segment. This will be one of our most significant steps in developing and evolving our design language even further for this period of transition in the automotive industry. 'It will position us to remain a major player in the estate segment, where Skoda Auto has been engaged since the 1920s. We are excited to present this concept to the world in early September 2025, marking a new era for Skoda Auto." The Skoda Octavia estate was first introduced in 1960, with more than 3 million versions of the modern-day Octavia Estate produced over four generations since 1998, making it also the best-selling estate model in Škoda history. When the new Octavia arrives, possibly in 2027 after Skoda has launched its Epiq small electric SUV and Space BEV – Skoda-speak for the as yet unnamed production version of its flagship Vision 7S electric concept – it's likely to use the latest platform technology from the Volkswagen Group called SSP or Scalable Systems Platform. SSP is set to replace Volkswagen's first-generation all-electric MEB platform and will eventually underpin everything from the smallest city car to the largest SUV across the whole Group. Crucially, it brings major leaps in software, paving the way for autonomous tech that you won't currently find on any Skoda or other Group model.
