Oscar Piastri ready to ‘seal the deal’ for McLaren’s title despite Lando Norris’ shock penalty at Qatar GP
Oscar Piastri remains confident over McLaren's prospects for winning the 2024 Constructors' title despite Ferrari's gains in Qatar.
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Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris (via IMAGO)
McLaren is in the battle for the 2024 Constructors’ title against Scuderia Ferrari. The Woking-based team hoped to increase its lead this weekend in Qatar. Unfortunately, Lando Norris‘ late penalty led to the Scuderia gaining in the standings instead. Now, Oscar Piastri has reasserted that the team will be looking to win the championship next weekend.
Piastri finished the Qatar GP in third place, behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. While Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari ended up in P6. Lando Norris was in the battle for the lead of the race. However, the Briton crossed the finish line in tenth place after a late 10-second stop and go penalty.
After the race, Oscar Piastri highlighted that he was unaware about the reason behind Norris’ significant penalty. Nevertheless, the Australian driver declared that McLaren was prepared to clinch the teams’ title at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
I’m not sure what Lando’s penalty was for, obviously quite a big one. Going to take everything we’ve got to seal the deal.
Oscar Piastri said post-race
Piastri: I'm not sure what Lando's penalty was for, obviously quite a big one. Going to take everything we've got to seal the deal.
— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) December 1, 2024
Oscar Piastri admits facing ‘tricky’ race at Qatar GP
Piastri failed to make gains against Leclerc or race leader Max Verstappen in the ending stages of the Grand Prix. The McLaren driver confessed that it was a tricky race. Oscar Piastri emphasized that it was difficult to get closer to rivals upfront due to their similar pace. He mentioned that McLaren had hoped for a better result.
It was a tricky race, the cars at the front had very similar pace so it was very tough to make inroads into DRS. Nice to end up on the podium, but not quite the result we were hoping for.
Oscar Piastri explained
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will now be shifting their focus on the Abu Dhabi GP. McLaren have a 21-point lead to Ferrari for the final race of the season. If the two drivers can manage a clean weekend, the British team will take its first Constructors’ championship since 1998.
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Armaan Agarwal
(2310 Articles Published)