Oscar Piastri expects a ‘favor’ from Lando Norris after what was seen by Mario Andretti

Norris He almost returned the championship to the McLaren Technology Center in 2024, when the Briton emerged as a title contender for the first time. But Verstappen held on to seal the Dutchman’s fourth consecutive title as the Red Bull driver built a 63-point lead over Norris.

Mario Andretti believes that Oscar Piastri will want a ‘favor’ from Lando Norris for the 2024 Sao Paulo Sprint

In the end, Norris even found himself under great pressure to remain second in the standings, as Charles Leclerc finished the season just 18 points behind. piastri He secured fourth place in the drivers’ standings with 292 points, marginally edging out Carlos Sainz with 290 points for Ferrari.

Piastri also impressed the 1978 F1 champion. mario andretti with how he improved in 2024. What particularly caught the Italian-American’s attention was how Piastri handled McLaren by telling him to give Norris the F1 speed win in 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix to help your title dreams.

READ MORE: Every mistake that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

Norris swept the sprint qualifying at Interlagos only for Piastri to pull off a late surprise and steal pole position. The Australian then pinned his 25-year-old teammate until lap 22 of 24, when McLaren asked Piastri to give Norris the victory in the Sao Paulo Sprint in the face of late VSC.

Andretti feels it was a sign of Piastri’s “class” to hand over the Sprint lead in Sao Paulo to Norris, as he knew the Brit was the only contender for the McLaren drivers’ title. But he also claims Piastri will expect Norris to pay the 23-year-old back after proving he is a team player.

“I really liked what Oscar showed and also the fact that he is a team player, that could be seen in Brazil,” Andretti said. RacingNews365.

“He thought, ‘It’s the end of the season, my teammate is in a better position,’ and he relented and showed everyone that, ‘Yeah, you know what? “I’ll let it go and hope they return the favor at some point.”

“To me, that showed a lot of class and awareness of where he stands.”

Lando Norris ‘returned the favor’ by giving Oscar Piastri victory in the 2024 Qatar Sprint

Norris will feel that he has already paid his debt to Piastri for the fact that the Australian gave him the Sprint victory in the 2024 Sao Paulo GP, since the Briton returned the Sprint victory to his McLaren teammate in the 2024 GP. Qatar Grand Prix. Norris’ intention was always to return Brazil’s favor.

“As much as I would love to win, I would love to win a Grand Prix much more than a Sprint. A sprint to me doesn’t mean much,” Norris said after giving Piastri the victory in the Qatar Sprint. “Oscar helped me and gave me that opportunity in Brazil and I have returned that favor.”

Unlike in Sao Paulo, Norris was also the fastest of the McLaren teammates in the sprint at the Lusail International Circuit, as Piastri needed his colleague’s help to fend off Mercedes ace George Russell. Norris gave Piastri a slipstream to prevent Russell from completing an overtake.

With the threat of an overtake by Russell quelled, Norris stopped and Piastri won the Qatar sprint in the dart towards the checkered flag. They reached the finish line just 0.136 seconds apart, with Russell 0.274 seconds behind, having lost to Piastri at the exit of Turn 1 on Lap 1.

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