We are only a couple of days away from witnessing the first competitive session of the 2024 season in the season opener on the Bahrain International Circuit. The upcoming weekend will give us and the teams a reality check of their standings in the grid hierarchy. However, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri don’t need the Bahrain GP to tell them where they stand with both McLaren men already aware of their shortcomings. Last year’s rookie made his admission as highlighted by Sky Sports F1 expert Karun Chandhok based on incidents in 2023. Whereas Norris exposed McLaren’s difficulties based on the pre-season testing.

Piastri impressed the entire F1 world with his performances in his rookie season. However, there were instances, especially during races, that would expose his immaturity in the sport, something he can’t hide behind in the upcoming season. Norris on the other hand made a concerning assessment for the upcoming race and following weekends with the output during the tests.

Piastri’s Achilles heel was exposed by Chandhok in the latest podcast on Sky Sports F1’s YouTube channel. The Indian said, “So clearly there was an Achilles heel with Oscar last year in terms of race pace. He and the team put it down to him being a rookie, which is fair enough, I think it is very hard to manage with the Pirelli tires but he won’t have that runway this year, he won’t have that excuse of being a rookie this year.”

“Do I think we’ve taken a step forward? Absolutely. Do I think we’ve made a lot of things better? Yes,” admitted Norris while speaking to the media.

However, he also pointed out there is still plenty of work to be done if they want to catch up to Red Bull and Ferrari. “I think we’ve definitely taken some steps in the right direction, but I think it’s still a very long way behind Red Bull and a long way behind Ferrari. So, plenty of work for us to still try and achieve, but also plenty of things that we’ve learned over the last few days for us to implement before next week.”

Read More: Is Oscar Piastri Poised to Secure 1st F1 Victory Before Lando Norris?

Brutal reality check from within the team. However, at least the papaya team is aware of their shortcomings and knows they need to work on it. Until they do, the two McLaren men can continue to extract potential from each other. At least that’s what Martin Brundle thinks.

F1 veteran believes Oscar Piastri is helping Lando Norris extract his potential

We can all agree the McLaren men were brilliant in the second half of the 2023 season. The podiums, the pole position, and the Sprint race win were all testament to that. As Norris admitted, the car still needs to catch up to the front runners Red Bull and Ferrari, the intra-team competition will help them push harder and squeeze out that extra pace, according to Martin Brundle.

He highlighted how Piastri was absolutely rapid, something Norris admitted as well, which helped the Brit out by giving him that extra push. Despite a few rookie errors, Piastri’s admission to the team has yielded an overall positive result and made Norris a better driver.

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“Oscar Piastri has really sharpened Lando Norris up, and Lando had to get on with that a little bit because Piastri turned up as a rookie delivering the high speeds through the really challenging corners, delivering some amazing results,” Brundle explained. “Made some rookie errors as well. But I think that’s really driven both drivers on and probably just what Lando needed because, in the second half of the season, Lando Norris has been outstanding,” said Brundle.

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We are not sure how the two will fare in the upcoming campaign. However, there will surely be some exciting racing between the two which would result in some podiums and perhaps wins if McLaren can overcome the shortcomings.