11 August 2023 , 17:29
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Lando Norris is uniquely experienced in Formula 1 for a 23-year-old, but his current situation will be unfamiliar.
He is more than half-way through his fifth full season in the sport. And all five of them have been spent in the same role he continues to fill – McLaren's great hope for a first championship since Lewis Hamilton 15 years ago.
Except he's not no longer the only potential future champion on the books. For the first time in F1, Norris has not only a younger team-mate but also one who is a genuine threat to his status as the golden boy at McLaren.
Oscar Piastri came into this season under even more pressure to perform than your average F1 rookie, given the public way in which he left Alpine for their midfield rivals. But he has answered his critics emphatically, earning rave reviews from everyone inside the paddock – apart from those in the Alpine motorhome.
Piastri's confidence and professionalism, as well as the quality of feedback he has been able to offer his engineers, have left McLaren mightily impressed with the 22-year-old. And even though he has been beaten by Norris nine times out of 12 this season, he has been pushing the Brit hard.
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While having two outstanding young talents on the books is an excellent scenario for McLaren, Sky Sports pundit Naomi Schiff thinks Norris would have been much happier with a team-mate who, like Daniel Ricciardo last year, was not a threat to his status as the main man in papaya.
"I have to be honest, I don't think there is a way that he can really be enjoying it," she said. "I do think it is a positive for him to have a team-mate in the garage next to him that's quick, that's bringing in valuable data to move the whole team forward.
"But, of course, as a driver, the number one person – as much as they call this a team sport – the number one person you want to beat is your team-mate. Obviously, qualifying on Friday [at the Belgian Grand Prix] was slightly different for Lando.
"He went off at Turn 14 and caused some damage to his underfloor and therefore he lost the ultimate performance in the car. However, Oscar was able to out-pace him in qualifying fair and square. So that's going to be putting some pressure on him. But I think it's positive pressure.
"As much as he might not like it, it'll be good for him. It'll be pushing him to pay more attention to detail. And ultimately when you've got a driver next to you that's pushing you, you become a better driver yourself."