Oscar Piastri Breaks Silence on Allegations of Being Intentionally Slower Against Lando Norris in Free Practice

Oscar Piastri revealed the ground reality on the allegations of going intentionally slower against Lando Norris during practice sessions.

Oscar Piastri Breaks Silence on Allegations of Being Intentionally Slower Against Lando Norris in Free Practice

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (via F1)

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Oscar Piastri has maintained his lead in the driver’s title since he clinched it at the beginning of the 2025 season. Lando Norris has come close to the lead, but has yet to snub the former from the top spot. However, amid the ongoing intra-team battle at McLaren, Piastri was alleged of going intentionally slow during the practice sessions to give false hope to Norris. The Australian has come clean on these allegations and provided his side of the story.

Oscar Piastri seems to be the better driver over the past few races as he has kept up with the winning momentum. Piastri has extended his lead in the driver’s standings to 34 points, following Lando Norris‘ DNF at the Dutch GP. While the Australian dominates during race day, his performances seem a stark contrast to his practice pace. As such, he was believed to go intentionally slow and sabotage the process of gaining information for the team.

However, Oscar Piastri was having none of the allegations and cleared the air. The Australian mentioned that it might have happened a few times this year, when he started a race weekend with mediocre pace. Over time, he got a better grip of the track and started to perform much better. But he insisted that he did not do this intentionally.

It’s happened a few times this year where it started a bit slow and then got better as the weekend went on. The difference from this year to last year is that last year, those weekends that started slow, the middle was slow, and the end was slow.

Oscar Piastri said, as quoted by F1

Further, Oscar Piastri questioned whether his being slow during the practice sessions was an ideal way to gain information on the car. He even insisted that he wasn’t doing it on purpose on most of the race weekends. Piastri did accept that he liked to build up his potential during a race weekend, but at the most recent Dutch GP weekend, he was slower than he had anticipated.

Is it an ideal way? Am I doing it on purpose? Not always. I’m trying to build up to things, of course, but was hoping to build up a bit quicker than I did this weekend.

Oscar Piastri added

Oscar Piastri reveals Mark Webber’s role in his F1 career

Following the Dutch GP victory, Oscar Piastri increased the total race wins to nine, the same as his manager, Mark Webber, in Formula 1. Webber has helped Piastri throughout his early karting days and ultimately into the pinnacle of motorsport. Hence, after matching the 49-year-old and being promising of many more wins, the 24-year-old opened up on achieving the feat.

Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber (via F1)
Oscar Piastri and Mark Webber (via F1)

Oscar Piastri insisted that Mark Webber had been very helpful throughout his entire racing career. Especially in the past five years, Webber’s role as Piastri’s manager has helped him a lot. Before getting into Formula 1, the 49-year-old gave right bits of advice to the youngster and helped him shape his career in a great way. Now, the 24-year-old is on the path to win his first F1 title out of many more in the coming years.

Yeah. He’s [Mark Webber] been very helpful through my whole career, certainly the last five years. I think once I got into Formula 1, that’s where his help has really been a lot greater and more clear. Before I got to F1 it was more in the background, helping with making the right decisions and bits of advice here and there.

Oscar Piastri noted

The 2025 season is still far from over, as there are nine more races until completion. Oscar Piastri must keep up with similar if not better, results if he wants to maintain his lead in the title. For now, the Australian will prepare for the upcoming Italian GP and hope to keep up with the winning streak in Italy.

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