Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri speak out after 'limit pushed a bit far' in fight

Daily Mirror

16 hours ago

Oscar Piastri admitted he was lucky not to have taken out team-mate Lando Norris in one scary moment during a thrilling McLaren duel for victory at the Austrian Grand Prix
Lando Norris is revved up for a Silverstone showdown with team-mate and Formula 1 title rival Oscar Piastri after a "perfect weekend" at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Brit crashed into the other McLaren two weeks ago in Montreal but made up for it by resisting intense pressure from Piastri throughout Sunday's Spielberg race.
Norris beamed: "It was a perfect weekend from my side. I couldn't have asked for much more so I'm pleased that I achieved everything that I set out to do this weekend, to try to make up a little bit for the last one.
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"I've done a lot of work on myself and with the team to achieve something this weekend. I'm still focused and I still have to work hard, because they're not coming easy, that's for sure."
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Piastri started third but immediately got past Charles Leclerc to set up a thrilling duel for the win. The Aussie nearly ran into the back of Norris at one point but they kept it clean as the championship leader saw his advantage cut to 15 points ahead of the British Grand Prix.
And Norris managed that despite nursing front wing damage and a battery issue at different points in the race. He said: "It was stressful, it was tough. We had a treat fight between the two of us. Oscar had DRS which is worth about seven-tenths around here.
"I struggled to get the battery up which meant I couldn't defend when I needed to and I couldn't get the deployment in the right places. It left me vulnerable and in a position I couldn't get out of until my first pit stop, when I got my battery back up, But the first 20 laps was very tough with Oscar pushing me, but I did everything I needed to do."
Piastri admitted he "probably pushed the limit a bit far" as he reflected on that near miss. But, otherwise, he was delighted to have finished well clear of everyone else despite spending much of the race fighting.
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He said: "I hope it was good watching, because it was pretty hard work from the car. I tried my absolute best and I probably could have done a better job when I got ahead momentarily, but it was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and I probably pushed the limits a bit far.
"But it was a good race and that's what we're here to do, try to race each other and try to fight for wins. That's what we did today. It was close for me, but not quite enough. To have the pace we did while fighting each other was very impressive, so I can't thank the team enough for the car."
Charles Leclerc was a comfortable third as Ferrari showed good pace in their upgraded cars. Lewis Hamilton matched his best Grand Prix result of the year so far in fourth, as Ferrari leapfrogged Mercedes to move back to second place in the championship, though McLaren are now 207 points clear.