Former F1 world champion Damon Hill has sent a message to Lando Norris following his victory at the Australian Grand Prix, warning the Brit that his teammate Oscar Piastri will pose a threat
Damon Hill has warned Lando Norris that his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri will give him a run for his money this season.
Norris kicked off the new season with victory at the Australian Grand Prix, with defending champion Max Verstappen and George Russell also earning podium finishes. Piastri, meanwhile, finished ninth after he went off track while he was behind Norris in second.
Both McLarens ended up off track after a heavy downpour, but Norris was able to quickly recover while Piastri got stuck in the grass for almost an entire lap. However, the Australian was able to poke fun at the incident as he joked: “I tried to go forwards, and couldn’t.
“Good thing I spent some time in the off-season trying to learn how to reverse a tractor on Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. I think it came in handy today.” And former F1 world champion Hill is confident Piastri will “be back” for the second race in Shanghai.
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Responding to his comments, Hill wrote on Instagram : “Good if you can see the funny side. He’ll be back.” And Piastri is hoping to bounce back in Shanghai, insisting he is able to take a “lot of positives” from his performance in Australia.
“I’ve felt better,” Piastri admitted. “I’m just disappointed, obviously. I honestly don’t know what to say, really. Obviously, a mistake from myself but I think for it to have the consequences that it did were a little bit unfortunate.
“I’ve only got myself to blame. I tried to push too much in those conditions. But the other 56 and three-quarter laps were very strong. I’m obviously very disappointed, but I think there are a lot of positives to take.
“At the moment, it doesn’t really feel like that but I would rather feel that I drove the race where I felt I could have put myself on the top step than struggling around and finishing on the podium. At the moment, it hurts, but there are genuinely a lot of positives to take.”
McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella added: “Lando and Oscar were both driving brilliantly until they hit a sudden wall of rain in the final sector where, effectively, Oscar just paid a bigger price than Lando when they both went off track.
“He was just a little bit unlucky, but if the car keeps performing at this level of competitiveness, he won’t have to wait long to secure big results.”
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