As Formula 1 reaches its summer break, which drivers have out-performed their team mates so far this season? We take a look at the data in the first part of our new series of team mate head-to-heads, beginning with the McLaren drivers.
The stability in McLaren’s Formula 1 driver line-up stands in stark contrast to the situation at its IndyCar team, which has become the butt of jokes after a string of changes this year (most but not all of which were triggered by injuries).
Having hired the young pairing of Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard to partner Pato O’Ward, the team remarked it hoped to replicate the success it had enjoyed in F1 with its relatively junior but highly capable duo.It’s no wonder McLaren have locked down Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the long-term. They have served the team extremely well over the last year and a half while their car has gone from Q1 exits to race wins.
Now the question is whether they can make the transition from race winners to champions. The constructors’ title is a genuine possibility for them this year, particularly since Red Bull have confirmed Sergio Perez will remain alongside Max Verstappen.
McLaren had to deal with this kind of thing last year as well. Piastri made way for his team mate more than once, then in Qatar the pair were ordered to hold position while the rookie driver was ahead, a decision Norris queried. “We ask drivers to challenge us,” said team principal Andrea Stella afterwards. They certainly got their wish in Hungary, where Norris’ race engineer Will Joseph spent 20 laps cajoling him into giving up victory.
Following that episode McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said the team will decide during the summer break whether it will throw all its weight behind one driver in the championship. Norris, self-critical as always, said he doesn’t feel he’s earned it.
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Looking at the numbers, it’s hard to argue. Norris has consistently out-performed Piastri in qualifying, but let too many opportunities pass him by on race day, the upshot being there’s only 32 points between them.
If Piastri repeats the strong second half of the season he enjoyed last year he could easily out-score Norris by the end of the season. Coming off the back of Spa, where Norris made a costly first-lap error while Piastri followed up his victory with second place, this looks entirely possible.
Norris vs Piastri: Season summary
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Norris vs Piastri: Race-by-race
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Unrepresentative comparisons omitted. Negative value: Norris was faster; Positive value: Piastri was faster
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PacificPR (@streydt)
31st July 2024, 8:44
Not to mention that although Norris beat Piastri in the qualifying battle – there was often very little between them and Piastri usually wasn’t far off the pace (unlike some other inter team battles). Looking forward to the second half of the season.
Mooa42
31st July 2024, 22:33
Also remember that 3 times this year Norris has had upgrades first while, Piastri ran the old spec or only part of the upgrade.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
2nd August 2024, 4:59
well, if Lando can out qualify Piastri the next race, it looks like he will get a good attempt to own him the rest of the season, as that would put the trend in Lando’s favor and offer him a good glut of races (about 5 or 6 in a row) where he could shine more.
Mayrton
31st July 2024, 8:59
Worrying to hear from him. You do not earn being the nr1 driver, you simply are or aren’t. He is extremely talented and quick and I hope he can shred off this perspective and insecurity. All that stands between him and his first WDC is his own mind, not any of his talent and skills.
An Sionnach
31st July 2024, 15:24
Exactly. I think he can do it. Don’t tell us everything. We don’t deserve to know it, Lando.
Edvaldo
31st July 2024, 16:08
If you are, you’ll earn it.
And you’ll earn it by performing accordingly, which he isn’t at the moment.
He can’t even consistently beat Piastri anymore, why should he be number 1? He’s 100% correct.
SteveP
31st July 2024, 18:36
If a team chooses to run the drivers as #1 & #2 then the #1 driver needs to have earned the right to expect preferential treatment with track performance.
Otherwise, you’d have something like Perez claiming the right to preferential treatment because he brings in so much sponsor money.
As entertaining as the reaction to that might be, I think it’s a pretty daft idea.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
1st August 2024, 5:09
Norris needs to stop behaving like a battered child, and man the **** up. Doesn’t need to be like Max, he just needs to realize that the sport is completely full of you know what, and to rise above it, to not become subject to the you know what, and get the best at all times.
I mean its clear that the Team Manager @ McLaren wants Oscar to beat Lando, its clear there is favortism there, so politically speaking, Lando has no obligation to behave like a child and do what hes told. The only obligation he has is to win, and to do so justifyingly. IE, not back down from what is right, and cover for screwups that his team made.
Edvaldo
1st August 2024, 12:47
It’s clear? Why?
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
2nd August 2024, 4:57
Just listen to how Zack talks about Oscar and Lando, and how he inflects his voice, and I am pretty sure Zack looks at Oscar more like his own son where as Lando is the red headed step child he inherited when he took the job. I think its pretty obvious based on the dialog provided to TV commentators. I don’t think thats a problem too, i mean people should be able to favor or hold opinions, but Lando just needs to realize, hes got to look after himself and not take the punishment for other people’s mistakes.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
2nd August 2024, 4:57
*Zak
MichaelN
31st July 2024, 9:33
Norris has actually done well versus Piastri, but crucially he has missed too many opportunities to beat Verstappen when the possibiliies were there.
Piastri is getting better though, and the gap is already quite small. It’s a great driver pairing! I doubt we’ll see them race each other much, but that’s fair enough given the team’s interests and their real chance to win the WCC.
Asd
31st July 2024, 10:18
Verstappen is not a McLaren driver, he is not Norris’s team-mate.
Timmy
31st July 2024, 11:44
“Piastri is getting better though…It’s a great driver pairing!”
I think he knows that buddy…
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
31st July 2024, 9:37
And this is the difference between multiple WDC winners and drivers like Norris.
Champions like Max, Lewis, Vellel, Schumacher and the like enforced their nr1 status, and would never let the team throw away WDC points
Norris is a great driver who vould win the WDC, if he get lucky.
On the flip side, because of this Norris is way more likable
notagrumpyfan
31st July 2024, 10:27
Vellel wasn’t that confident initially either.
Maybe it’ll come for Norris soon, but by then Piastri might have caught up with him.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
31st July 2024, 16:42
Multi 21 Seb , multi 21 !
Nick T.
31st July 2024, 11:19
lol, Vettel. The only person he could enforce this greatness on was Webber.
Mayrton
31st July 2024, 13:56
Yes, I agree and am also not impressed with Vettel at all. It seems he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I always feel uncomfortable (especially towards the other greats) seeing him appear at the top of many statistics/lists. It’s the ultimate prove that numbers do not always tell the real story.
MichaelN
31st July 2024, 15:22
Double check with Räikkönen.
Nick T.
1st August 2024, 0:27
Raikkonen was ahead of Seb for most of one of the seasons they were together despite Ferrari always giving Seb priority strategy and using Kimi as a pawn. And I don’t think any were impressed with the Kimi of that time. Alonso put a worse crushing on Kimi than Seb ever did. Nearly quadrupling Kimi’s points tally, nearly shutting him out in quali and might have finished ahead of him in every single race of the season had it not been for a puncture at Spa. And people had been really looking forward to the match up. After that, we all still loved him, but I don’t think anyone expected much of Kimi.
Timmy
31st July 2024, 11:46
Vettel, Schumacher and Max were all given No.1 status as a matter of team policy. Lewis 100% has voluntarily given away points in the championship to his ‘No.2’ team mate before.
I think some fans honestly just parrot nonsense without actually watching the races.
cdfemke (@cdfemke)
31st July 2024, 11:57
And some wear very british colored glasses :)
Davethechicken
31st July 2024, 12:59
You think Hamilton had number one status over Rosberg, Alonso, Button, Russell?
notagrumpyfan
31st July 2024, 13:13
Yes, No, Yes, Yes.
But mostly deserved, so no biggie.
David BR (@david-br)
31st July 2024, 14:26
No, no, no and no.
Yes: Kovaleinen and Bottas (de facto if not de jure).
Edvaldo
31st July 2024, 14:43
Button was also a champion when he raced Hamilton.
I don’t remember team orders happening there not even once on those years. They did their thing on the track.
Timmy
1st August 2024, 11:51
I wear regular glasses, I couldn’t give a toss about what nationality they are…
It’s much easier to just blindly claim bias rather than refuting my point with any evidence isn’t it?
Robbie1
31st July 2024, 16:01
@Timmy
“Vettel, Schumacher and Max were all given No.1 status as a matter of team policy.”
I think some fans honestly just parrot nonsense without actually watching the races.
It’s data that gives No.1 status, nothing more, nothing less. (With the exception of Lance.)
Now had you actually watched races you would know this.
Timmy
1st August 2024, 12:01
“Now had you actually watched races you would know this.”
It’s not an impressive zinger when you just recycle what I said back at me.
It’s not just data, it’s team philosophy. 2000’s Ferrari (not so much now) and Red Bull operate(d) a clear No.1/No.2 driver setup. Using ‘data’ to determine driver preference only works when both drivers are given equal treatment, which didn’t/doesn’t happen at those two teams.
Maybe in addition to watching the races, you could pay attention to how the teams operate? Turkey 2010 would be a good place to start.
David BR (@david-br)
31st July 2024, 12:01
Sometimes you do get two number 1 drivers in the same team (Senna-Prost obviously) and the tension generated can basically go on forever while both remain in the team. I think Norris-Piastri might be similar (though not equating them with their illustrious forebears) and neither is likely to become de facto number 1, though Norris is simply in terms of ‘seniority’ for now. Leclerc’s role is also hazy. He was clearly brought to Ferrari as a Vettel replacement and effectively pushed Seb out. That made Leclerc the number one presumptive. But really he hasn’t dominated that position either with Sainz and now with Hamilton arriving next year it’s going to be a weird ‘parity’ but with all the impetus around Lewis’s arrival boosting the team (supposedly).
I like the WDC points test, though. I think it hits a core question. For example, what would George Russell have done in Lando’s place? He’d have insisted on those points and not returning the place to Piastri for sure (or to Hamilton if the same scenario were to happen at Mercedes). Same with Max. Teams must want that selfish hunger for the drivers title in their drivers, they just try to tame it to their own ends.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
31st July 2024, 9:46
Although these are two of the best drivers on the grid, they both seem to be lacking the killer instinct that defines most of the great WDC’s
Both Lando and Oscar can come across as a bit wishy-washy sometimes.
Total self belief has to be a basic starting block for any athlete doesn’t it?
They are both young and have time to develop I suppose.
Stephen Taylor
31st July 2024, 10:12
Hmmm not sure you can accuse Piastri of lacking killer instinct . The guy has it in spades.
David BR (@david-br)
31st July 2024, 12:05
@nullapax Piastri is more decisive on track though. I suspect he’s just fairly (wisely) diplomatic as the ‘junior’ team mate.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
31st July 2024, 13:52
I think Piastri has the killer instinct. Also, he’s in his second year only.
I agree about Lando tho. He had plenty of opportunities this year and for little mistakes here and there, he didn’t win. Sure it’s tighter than usual at the top these days, but still…
HAL
31st July 2024, 9:53
I hate the current Norris-Piastri debate that follows the Hungarian GP. Facts is they are both very strong driver, overall Norris is still ahead in pace, but the gap is reduced and reducing. Which is very logical considering Piastri in only in his second year.
Comes Hungaria, and the F1 world polarizes… That day, Oscar was faster, led the way up to that last pit stop. To cover Mercedes, McLaren hand over the lead to Norris, but asking him to revert the position… This was 100% logical, no debate. Norris could have played the bad boy and kept the place, but in no way this would have been a fair victory. Since when do we like victory won by team decision ? Or is it different because Norris is from Belgium… sorry, from UK ?
Comes the media and the forums… Trying to justify why Norris should have kept it (he was faster in clean air in the last 10 laps, let’s forget the first 45 laps, he would have passed anyway, I know if from my crystal ball) or on the other aisle arguing that Norris makes too many mistake and Piastri is the strongest (at the moment, stats clearly show an advantage to Norris, but he will develop so much better, I know it from my crystal ball).
My take: it is time for McLaren to stop playing fool and adopt the classical method: undercut for the lead car, no more play. There is not enough honesty in this world for strategy based on trust. They have 2 great drivers, let’s treat them as such.
As for giving Norris the full advantage: his advantage on Piastri in terms of point is way to small for that mid-season.
Mog
31st July 2024, 10:12
Well said.
Nick T.
31st July 2024, 11:18
I find it a bit ridiculous as well. F1 media and fans have this raging need to constantly discuss WHO. IS. KING?! Then again, it is competition.
slowmo (@slowmo)
31st July 2024, 10:11
Numbers don’t lie and all the evidence still points to Norris being the faster and more consistent driver out of the two. While Piastri will develop more you would expect, it’s hard to see him developing the aggression and consistent race pace as easily as some seem to think. The last few races have somewhat flattered Piastri combined with Norris having lost some results that were not his fault.
If Mclaren have aspirations for a WDC then they should favour Norris this year but that ship has likely sailed now. F1 is frequently about momentum and Mclaren could have built that up for Norris but instead they’ve killed all momentum stone dead now. The summer break has come at a good time for Norris to reset and I expect normal service to be resumed in the second half of the year.
notagrumpyfan
31st July 2024, 10:31
How did the last few races flatter Piastri; he genuinely won the inner team battle half of the times after Miami, and that whilst coming from behind in most of those races.
Nick T.
31st July 2024, 11:36
I agree. I like Oscar better as a fan and want him to beat Lando, but I’m far from convinced he’ll eventually be the faster of the two given time. I think his mental constitution, however, is far better. So, even if his outright maximum pace doesn’t eventually outstrip Norris, his inner steadiness could make the bigger difference eventually.
Drivers don’t typically get faster in pure pace. They just make far less mistakes. Max is a great example. It was immediately clear he had the edge on Daniel in raw pace, but it took him until their third season together to start beating him because Daniel was far more consistent. Lewis’ raw pace never got better than it did in his rookie season. If anything it dipped slightly. He also just became less mistake prone over time. Though, it is a bit hard to judge Lewis’ case because he entered with a lot of advantages for a rookie: traction control, literally 500% more testing mileage than his teammate and driving on tires Alonso had never driven before. Either way, his speed was awe inspiring from the get go.
It’ll be interesting to see if the new regs move the bar noticeably one way or the other. Lando came of age in this spec and some drivers click better with a new reg or vice versa.
anon
1st August 2024, 8:04
Nick T., you still believe those old lies about Hamilton having had more testing mileage than Alonso, or that Alonso had never driven on those tyres before? Both of those have been thoroughly debunked by people who have gone to the effort of finding the testing records from 2007 from the circuits that McLaren hired to undertake those tests.
The answer is that Alonso completed 8,277km of testing mileage in the MP4/22 on the Bridgestone tyres in tests prior to the start of the 2007 season, whilst Hamilton covered 7,714km in the MP4/22 on the Bridgestone tyres. Not only does that thoroughly debunk the claim that Alonso had “never driven on those tyres before”, the claim that Hamilton had “literally 500% more testing mileage than his teammate” is also clearly rubbish – Alonso actually covered 563km, or about 7%, more mileage than Hamilton did.
Nick T.
2nd August 2024, 23:01
Where does this stat come from? It also doesn’t seem to make much sense considering Alonso was contractually prevented from starting test until much later in the year. It also never occurred to me that media would lie about testing mileage.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
1st August 2024, 5:16
Norris is better, hes just better over race pace, which means if he screws up the first lap, he can’t win in the eyes of his befuddled logic. He has to realize that if his team are only allowing them to race to the first corner, Lando has very little chance of winning races and not being held up by his slower teammate, over race distance.
This is the problem, but instead of giving himself (Lando) the benefit of the doubt, hes making excuses for a team thats holding him back.
Stephen Taylor
31st July 2024, 10:34
Considering this that before the Austrian Grand Prix in late June that Lando was 63 points ahead of Oscar . Had Lando finished second in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix behind Ma. but ahead of he would have ended that weekend at mininmum 70 points ahead Oscar as remember George was third in Austria and OP fourth before MV and LN clashed. In fact if McLaren had not messed the the saftety car wpit window in Canada Lando could have won that too which would could have have potentially have put Lando 77 points ahead of OP going to the British GP and there is no way with that kind of margin of defcit to Lando that Oscar would have been allowed to win in Silverstone or Hungary. Those lost points in Austria have proved very costly. Max was happy to to take Lando out in Austria because he could afford a points hit when he knew Lando couldn’t.
Tristan
31st July 2024, 10:37
The only reason the score line looks as good as it does is because Norris has the speed to go wheel to wheel with Max Verstappen, which as history has proven is rarely going to end well.
Just look at those comparison figures, the green is dominant… The only thing that even remotely suggest they’re equal is points which is obviously determined by how competitive the car is in a given weekend, rather than the relatively consistent trouncing Norris has given Piastri almost everywhere else.
David BR (@david-br)
31st July 2024, 14:37
That’s a good point. But it remains the fact that if Norris’s starts were better (they’ve been consistently bad when he’s on the front row) then this discussion wouldn’t exist. It’s a fatal flaw for a number one driver. Pérez and Bottas have both shown a tendency to fall back when in the fastest car on the grid (and Hamilton lost a WDC to Rosberg in big part because of some poor race starts).
Robbie1
31st July 2024, 16:06
“which as history has proven is rarely going to end well”
Yes, in his 10 season of F1, the 3 drivers who had to retire a race after an incident for which Max was deemed quilty are proof of that….
And if you take away the nonsens penalties for Monza 2021 and Hungary 2024 it’s actually one driver.
But hey, do facts actually matter?
Oh, and so far he has never send a driver to the hospital.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
31st July 2024, 18:00
Robbie? Where have you been?
sam
31st July 2024, 18:06
if, would have , could have.
SteveP
31st July 2024, 19:52
It may be nonsense to you, but the stewards checked the rules and apparently parking on your opponent isn’t actually allowed.
Ah, but he did. Himself.
I don’t know whether they got him to fill in a customer feedback form during/after his precautionary visit, they usually do even on the OP stuff.
Anyway, can anyone tell we what relevance this has to Norris vs. Piastri status within Team McLaren?
SteveP
31st July 2024, 21:19
*can anyone tell me
Sigh, one of those days…
BenHur
31st July 2024, 21:43
Precautionary visit? Are you ignorant of this, or just disingenuous?
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
31st July 2024, 10:37
It strikes me that Norris is currently the better driver but is also more emotional, which can counteract that talent.
Conversely, Piastri appears more measured. If he continues his upward performance curve, that mindset might well make him McLaren’s defacto no.1 driver.
Nick T.
31st July 2024, 11:39
I agree:
Leo B
31st July 2024, 11:29
I’ll have to check on the Zandfoort track characteristics and whether they favour McLaren. But if Piastri trumps Norris yet again there it will be very hard for Norris to retain any claim to senior status.
Again, nothing seems to faze OP, whereas LN succumbs to the blues whenever things go a little wrong. In brief it appears, at this stage, that OP’s route to the top is a little wider and less winding than LN’s. Here I have to admit my hope that if and when the next win opportunity comes for McLaren, it will be OP who takes it.
Edvaldo
31st July 2024, 14:16
Norris complained about other’s success for years. Now he has the car but he’s yet to step up.
7 drivers won races this year and he’s overall the most competitive driver of the team that can say they share the top with Red Bull, yet his win was the most unusual. He greatly benefited from the Safety Car letting him through.
Had that not happened he may not even have won a race in what is already debatable as the best car of the grid.
So, time to grow up and get better. The team did, now is his time.
As for Piastri, nothing to say, he’s on the right path already.
SteveP
31st July 2024, 19:56
Maybe he’s still in shock that they managed to get the car good enough? Second half of season to play with yet.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
31st July 2024, 18:07
In many ways, it takes a lot of confidence to say that you don’t deserve number one status. I don’t think any driver would admit that out of fear of showing weakness. So kudos to Norris for being able to admit it but in many ways the team raised that question and instilled the sense in him that he’s not #1.
The team’s job is to groom Norris into a champion, not raise questions about his ability.
Is Norris a perfect driver? Nope but you don’t try to expose your driver’s weaknesses.
You try to play to his strengths and strengthen the areas where he’s weak.
Both times, Norris lost position was to his teammate on the inside. He’s a bit afraid to have contact with him and the best way to address that is to keep your line and if you touch, so be it.
Stella can then ask Piastri why he crashed into him and retired both cars.
Alonslow
31st July 2024, 22:35
When did Piastri make that ‘tactical error’?, it was the team screwing up like lately…
Nesto
31st July 2024, 22:36
How I wish Alonso was in that McLaren. He’d be working his magic and giving Max a proper fight. Give that man a car worth of contending!!
Nick T.
1st August 2024, 0:34
How dare you?! None of that matters. Don’t you know the man is pure evil? Not to mention “toxic!”
Illusive (@illusive)
1st August 2024, 9:06
You might never get this opportunity again Mclaren and Lando, so take it when you can, cause sure as hell Max and RedBull would be laughing and appreciating how weak minded the opposition really is.