Australia’s last world champion has backed Oscar Piastri to prevail in his championship fight with his McLaren team mate.
Alan Jones, who won the world title for Williams in 1980, called Piastri “a pretty strong minded young kid.” Piastri took the lead of the world championship from his team mate Lando Norris by winning the last round and Jones said there is “no question” he can stay ahead.“The first person you’ve got to beat is your team mate,” Jones told Fox. “At the end of the day, his team mate is weak.”
Norris has a reputation for being strongly critical of himself when he makes mistakes and has been forthright about his self-doubt in the past. He won the opening round of the season under race-long pressure from Piastri and Max Verstappen but hasn’t scored another victory since, saying he feels less comfortable with the latest McLaren than last year’s car.
“When they start talking all that nonsense, you know you’ve got them.”
Norris finished second in the drivers’ championship to Verstappen last year. During the season Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko also cast doubt on Norris’s toughness, saying he “has some mental weaknesses.”
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Marko’s comments drew strong criticism from McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown at the time. “Lando has been kind of an ambassador for mental health,” said Brown. “Toto [Wolff]’s spoken about mental health. So I think it’s a serious issue that we’ve tried to talk about to bring to the forefront, make it okay to talk about.
“So to maybe kind of choose [to] poke at that situation I think is pretty inappropriate and kind of sets us back ten, 20 years. It’s all fun and games in how some people go racing and what tactics they use from a sporting perspective but I thought that one was in pretty poor taste.”
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Jere (@jerejj)
30th April 2025, 16:38
At the current rate, I also back Piastri to win this season’s championhip.
MichaelN
30th April 2025, 17:06
Jones seemingly can’t handle Norris talking about his doubts and uncertainties. As if he never has any. Quite sad he feels he needs to hide this and ridicule others more open about their thoughts and feelings. Says more about him than Norris.
Piastri might beat Norris. But he couldn’t in 2023 and he couldn’t in 2024. We will just have to wait and see.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
30th April 2025, 17:59
+1 but its in the nature of some old f1 drivers, Sniping
Applebook
30th April 2025, 19:41
Ridiculous comments by Jones. Even though I agree with him somewhat, he didn’t need to say it like this. All that he had to say was that Oscar is mentally strong enough to beat teammate. End of. Did Lando do something to Jones???
Brooks
1st May 2025, 3:37
Well said. Oscar is going very well but we’re only five GP weekends into the season. Any comments concluding the championship at this point are just silly.
BasCB (@bascb)
30th April 2025, 20:19
I guess for him it was just an occasion to support his landsman. But yeah, it’s kind of sad to see everyone acting as if Norris talking about his issues is the problem he has.
JoshAtTwo
30th April 2025, 23:24
I’m not a fan of Jones criticizing Norris so harshly, but you can’t say that he has hidden mental issues of his own. Sure, it’s okay for people to have them, but that doesn’t mean that we all have them, and if we say we don’t, then we must not be admitting it. Telling someone that they’re either a) a liar, or b) know less about themselves than we do, is just as bad as putting someone down for their issues. There are people out there who don’t doubt themselves. It’s just who they are. And if it works for them, good for them.
Edvaldo
30th April 2025, 23:25
Norris talks too much, then goes and makes mistakes, that’s the problem.
If he hadn’t made so many silly mistakes, he could’ve been talking as much as he wanted, and people wouldn’t have called him weak mentally.
He’s not slower than Piastri for it to be the reason he’s losing control of this championship, he’s losing it because he has been making the same silly mistakes as last year, like in China Sprint touching the gravel all by himself and losing ground, the same mistake he made at Spa last year.
MacLeod (@macleod)
1st May 2025, 7:58
To be fair Max never doubt himself even when the whole world was trying to change him.
El Pollo Loco
2nd May 2025, 0:13
He could have couched in more pleasant terms, but the sentiment is true whether you believe he put it in crude terms. Is getting nervous and feeling pressure a mental condition? I think not.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
30th April 2025, 17:18
You know what’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about alan jones? He’s australian, like piastri, so I think there’s a certain amount of bias here, even though I also consider norris weak mentally.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
30th April 2025, 17:53
I feel that Oscar is now the better bet for McLaren, even though I don’t think that he is necessarily a better racing driver than Lando.
I wouldn’t call Lando “Mentally weak” by any means, but his moments of brilliance are constantly offset by silly mistakes that seem to stem from him pushing too hard rather than letting the car do the work.
McLaren quite possibly has the best car at the moment, so all they need is a solid, reliable driver to keep bringing it home.
I would say that Oscar is that solid, reliable driver out of the two.
Applebook
30th April 2025, 19:44
Oscar clearly has veins of ice. Everyone is mentally weak compare to him!
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
30th April 2025, 17:58
Maybe he just got their thru talent Alan? And its therefore a good job he is too weak mentally or your boy would be miles off. To think Alan was my first favourite f1 driver. Kids are stupid tho right. Mate.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
30th April 2025, 18:35
Well, it’s obviously just pro-Aussie bias isn’t it. I am not saying he doesn’t believe it and Lando does have more obvious issues. He’s a bit hard on himself and anything less than perfect seems to add to his tendency to introspection.
I would not mark down Lando’s chances just yet though as many seem very keen to do. All these stories about who McLaren should favour, etc. I expect they will continue in the vein they have until one of their two drivers falls too far behind the other. If Oscar went and won the next 2 or 3 races, things might look different but equally the same is true with Lando.
Shimks (@shimks)
30th April 2025, 18:56
Yes, but Piastri is coming across as a man ready to take over the world. You can’t say that about Lando (and I am a big Lando fan). The problem isn’t that Lando is making his concerns public (well, he’s giving the competition ammunition). The problem is that Lando is giving these doubts too much space in his head. It’s not a good sign, in my opinion. No-one says you have to be mentally strong to be a good human being; and Lando is lovely. But you’ve got to be rock solid mentally to win the driver’s championship.
MichaelN
30th April 2025, 19:09
A protracted championship battle over the full season is mentally draining. Rosberg spoke about this eloquently, others have also discussed this. There isn’t a single driver who is unaffected by this. From moments of anger, doubt, relief, even betrayal – there are plenty of stories of drivers who, at some point in successful campaigns, lost their cool and focus. This is all perfectly normal. It’s not weak, it’s not weird.
Most of all, it’s a story written by the winners. If Piastri wins the title with a small gap like he has now, people will say Norris messed up in China. If Norris wins, people will say Piastri bungled it in Australia. Both are true, and both are false. It’s never one thing.
Guruguru Mawatte (@evacuation)
1st May 2025, 14:41
You may well be right about that this time around, but let’s not forget that AJ was plenty critical of Webber and Ricciardo. Ergo, up until now, he hasn’t been particularly supportive of his countrymen. Perhaps with Oscar he’s seeing more potential for the WDC than with previous Aussie F1 drivers?
I do agree with you though. It’s too early in the season for AJ to be making these sorts of prognostications. And I don’t think he’s doing Oscar, or Aus for that matter, any favours by voicing them in the media.
An Sionnach
30th April 2025, 19:19
On Brown’s comments about how to go racing… we don’t have an unrepentant mischief-maker like Piquet on the grid right now, but I think each driver does know how to unsettle the others. George seemed to get a reaction from Norris with his comment about the better car, which he has insisted on repeating. Piastri said he’s okay with the car. Maybe that’s true, but I would be more inclined to believe Lando that the car is getting trickier. Perhaps Oscar is able to handle it better, but he wouldn’t say it. Jones is blunt and no-nonsense. Lando can easily take the heat off himself by being more neutral with his answers. He doesn’t even have to engage in mind games. Max and Oscar don’t really do this and they let their driving speak for itself.
Lando: Pole and win this weekend. Tell them in the press conference that you’re here to win the championship and want to get as many poles and wins as you can. Speed is what Lando is good at. If he starts first, he doesn’t need to race anyone.
Applebook
30th April 2025, 20:41
Max not engaging in mind games? Hehe.
Ferdi
1st May 2025, 10:00
Yeah, Lando is somewhat Vettel-esque I would say. Fast but ‘wheel to wheel’ not so good. Needs to start at the front row to deliver during the race.
David (@nvherman)
1st May 2025, 19:18
Yes, you say that, but he did go from 10th to 4th last time out (and I do appreciate that this was made easier by Gasly and Tsunoda taking each other out)
Leo B
30th April 2025, 21:00
Piastri reminds me a little of Kimi in his early years. Quiet, self confident, mentally untouchable, speediest of all.
I also like Norris, who is a different type altogether.
Leo B
30th April 2025, 21:03
* Just to add that Piastri is not currently speediest of all, at least not yet…
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
1st May 2025, 10:55
Hes better than Kimi already and I dont see any particular traits they have in common.
Conky81
30th April 2025, 21:43
It’s a shame this is the narrative racefans have chosen for Norris. He could have won the driver’s championship last year if it wasn’t for someone trying to crash into him and having to be even more careful to win the constructors championship.
Edvaldo
30th April 2025, 23:17
No he could not, he wasn’t even close. He had the overall fastest car but his challenge was as insignificant as Coulthard’s in 2001, closer to the 3rd placed guy than to the champion.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
1st May 2025, 10:56
Deary me. It never stop do you
bull mello (@bullmello)
1st May 2025, 2:26
Oscar Piastri reminds me of Jim Clark.
More so than Alan Jones.
Oscar is more of a gentleman than most.
CBESUD
1st May 2025, 10:22
There are going to be tracks where Lando Norris is going to be faster than Oscar Piastri.
On most tracks, it is going to be very close between them. When it is very close between the two of them, Norris seems to put so much pressure on himself and it leads to big mistakes.
Piastri has shown himself to be a cool customer and in much more control of his nerves. In close situations, if Lando can stay calm, he will get beaten at a few races because Piastri is so close. But atleast he will avoid big mistakes that cost him a lot of points.
The point loss, Lando can claw back at tracks where he can have big wins and win a few close ones too.
Lando is not a driver who can day in and day out be consistent at every race. He is going to have his ups and downs. So he is going to lose some, but keep the losses to a minimum. Offset it with the big wins and he can still win this championship.
Full marks to Piastri. He was always a step behind Norris in qualification last season. He has worked on this and upped his game now. This is why he is putting so much pressure on Norris.
Lando is returning to the track where he recorded his first GP win and he should try to turn things around here.
It is 50-50 between the two McLaren drivers now and they will squabble all the way this season. If RBR bring some updates and provide Verstappen with a decent car, he could take this championship like Kimi Raikkonen did in 2007
oweng (@oweng)
1st May 2025, 13:48
I think Lando Norris’ openness about himself shows mental strength, not weakness.
Most drivers going for their first title go through similar stuff. See Verstappen in 2021 and since for example. He’s deaing with the pressure his way and fair play to him for saying he wants to do it his way and not change.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
1st May 2025, 14:43
I see a lot of support for Lando in this comment section, which I think is fair enough. But objectively, he is weaker than his rivals in high pressure scenarios. Last season, there was an argument to be made that it wasn’t costing him the ultimate prize and that it was his first year at the front. Truthfully, that excuse has elapsed.
Norris is in 7th season, he’s 25 years old. Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Verstappen had all won the title by that age, most of them 2. He’s won 6 races and a sprint since F2 in 2018. One in F2, a fluke in Miami, a dominant Zandvoort, a strong Singapore with a near miss error, Abu Dhabi with his 2 rivals out the race early and Australia, where again he had a near miss. This is not the resume of the finished article.
There has been 20 races since the Spanish GP last year, and I’d argue McLaren had the best car, with him as the faster driver in 80% of them. In other words, for a man of his undoubted speed I’d expect him to have won double at a minimum. I’d backed him for 14 wins with 3 of the first 5 this year.
Norris and his team need to own this. The narrative that’s been built is because of his attitude in the media, his poor choices under pressure and silly driving errors. I heard his race engineer talk about the “privileged” position the team are in, that to me is evidence of the wrong mindset. Seize the opportunities you have earned, don’t reflect on them.
It’s an abject failure that the team didn’t prepare him more completely for the challenge this year. Mental health can be improved, trigger points can be worked on. It’s a vital attribute for every sportsman. When Montoya turned up overweight, it was commented on as he was professionally unprepared. Norris is in the same boat; McLaren have proven to be strategically naive on and off track.
I don’t think Jones or Marko or any other commentator should be criticised for stating an obvious weakness which has not been effectively addressed.
An Sionnach
1st May 2025, 18:11
Fair enough. On the mental aspects, I expect we all have issues and they may even be inseparable from the survival instinct. That is not remarkable. What is is when someone overcomes them to achieve something great. If Lando doesn’t win the championship I don’t think it will be interesting to hear about his internal battles. I’d prefer to hear about how McIlroy overcame them to win The Masters. F1 isn’t snooker either, so there isn’t another championship for Jimmy White to win.