Formula 1 News: Piastri 'mentally ahead' of Norris for title

(GMM) Ralf Schumacher has tipped Oscar Piastri (pictured) as the stronger McLaren contender in this year’s world championship battle.

The German told T-Online that the 24-year-old Australian is showing “an extremely strong, extremely consistent year” with hardly any mistakes.

“Mentally, he also seems to be ahead at the moment,” Schumacher said. “Especially considering that this is only his third year in Formula 1, he’s further along than Lando.

“Last year his biggest weakness was his racing speed, but he’s obviously worked hard on that and improved significantly. And there’s something else – he is handling the situation of already leading the drivers’ standings at his young age relatively calmly.”

By contrast, Schumacher sees Lando Norris – 31 points behind exacerbated by his DNF at Zandvoort – as less assured.

“I have the impression that he doesn’t always make the best decisions when overtaking, especially compared to Oscar or Max Verstappen,” he explained.

“He often takes too long to get close, to get past, and sometimes even fails two or three times. That’s a major weakness. And since you mentioned it – he’s also spoken about how mentally he’s not quite as strong at times. You could see that repeatedly in his qualifying performances.

“Although it must also be said that he didn’t make any mistakes in qualifying for the Italian GP at a very high level.”

According to Ralf, however, Piastri’s aggression is another advantage.

“He’s aggressive in his commentary, even in his radio messages during races, and knows how to exert pressure,” he said. “For example, when he remarks, ‘Actually, I’m faster than him,’ and similar things, he’s already very adept at these mind games.

“It’s an important part of his approach.”

Norris, meanwhile, has argued he can be a “nice” world champion, but Schumacher is skeptical.

“Let me put it this way – you have to know what you want and then demonstrate a certain uncompromising attitude,” the 50-year-old former grand prix winner said.

“”It’s possible to drive hard and still behave fairly. Max Verstappen demonstrates this best – he’s a fair world champion, but also a true veteran. Compared to him and Piastri, Norris understandably struggles.

“This year, he’s lucky that his car is very good – and at the same time, unlucky that his teammate is also very good.”