In Formula 1, beating their teammate is right up there with every other aim a driver has. In fact, it’s probably one of the most crucial ones a driver has. It doesn’t matter where in the pecking order their car is on the grid. All that matters is that once the season ends, they need to be ahead of their teammate in the Drivers’ Championship. Unfortunately for Oscar Piastri, the past few weeks haven’t helped his case against Lando Norris at McLaren.

McLaren started the season toward the bottom of the grid. Since the Woking squad introduced its upgrade overhaul in Austria, though, it’s become the second-quickest team on most occasions. Since that happened, Piastri has also been giving Norris a run for his money, urging the 23-year-old to watch his back. While the past few races haven’t been the best for Piastri, things might just start looking up for him and looking down for Norris.

Oscar Piastri will get back in form and get back at Norris

It’s difficult to remember that Oscar Piastri is just a rookie, especially considering how well he’s adapted to life in F1. As successful as his tenure has been so far, being a rookie has its disadvantages as well. Piastri has been experiencing that right from the Japanese GP. Since F1’s Suzuka trip, it has visited tracks that are completely new to Piastri (Suzuka included). He’s had to learn the track, get used to it, and then perform during the weekend. Of those five race weekends, three of them were Sprint weekends. That only made the Aussie’s life tougher.

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To be fair, Piastri held his own really well. He secured his first proper podium in Suzuka, followed that up with his first win—albeit in a Sprint—in Qatar, and a podium in the main race. Since then, it’s been a mix of factors that have slowed him down, most of which were just bad luck. While Piastri struggled, Norris picked up his performance, securing podiums in four of the five weekends. Despite Norris’ stellar form, F1 expert Peter Windsor believes Piastri’s resurgence will cause Norris to drop off.

In a live stream on his YouTube channel, Windsor said, “Ever since [Piastri] has been slightly off the boil, it’s interesting to see how Lando has gone the other way. This presence of Oscar Piastri there—who’s very, very good—has an effect on Lando Norris. It works both ways. If Oscar isn’t doing very well, it’ll elevate Lando. And if he is doing well, it actually cramps Lando’s style. That’s what’s going on at the moment.” As per Windsor, Norris needs to enjoy his time in the sunshine now because when Piastri gets back in the groove, he believes Norris will need to watch his back.

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“Lando’s driving beautifully and getting more and more confident with the car. But that’s not to say that will continue if Oscar suddenly finds his sweet spot again, gets the best out of the tires, has a very good qualifying session, and out-qualifies Lando. Back to square one, I would think,” concluded Windsor. Despite how built up Piastri and Norris’ rivalry is, there’s no bad blood between them. In fact, Piastri recently showed his admiration for Norris.

Piastri is glad to have Lando Norris as a teammate

If you’ve watched McLaren’s YouTube videos, you’d have seen the way Piastri looks at Norris—like he’s in love. As much as Piastri and Norris admire each other’s off-track talents, Piastri couldn’t help but express his admiration for Norris as someone to look up to in F1. “He’s got a lot of experience at a young age. It’s been nice having him as a teammate and reference. He’s definitely established himself in the last five years as one of the top drivers in Formula 1,” said Piastri in an interview earlier this year.

When rookies join F1, their aim is to match their teammates, if not beat them. Piastri has done both already. Norris is largely responsible for getting Piastri up to speed. The Aussie added, “To be able to see how he drives and see how he works with the team has been very useful for me as well. It’s an exciting teammate pairing, certainly for years to come.”

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Do you think Oscar Piastri will leave Lando Norris in his dust once he finds his groove again?