MCLAREN RISK PUSHING LANDO NORRIS TOWARDS MERCEDES AFTER BRAVE CALL IN SAUDI ARABIA

A future move to for might just have been pushed closer to reality in the early weeks of the new Formula One season, with having experienced a dramatic fall from grace over the winter break. The British outfit have been among the best midfield teams on the grid in recent years but are currently struggling to meet their usual standards after two lacklustre performances in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in 2023.

Norris finished dead last in Bahrain due to a pneumatic pressure leak that forced him to make six pit stops in total, while Oscar Piastri was forced to retire from the race thanks to a mechanical failure. Both drivers at least managed to finish in Saudi Arabia on Sunday but did not trouble the points-paying positions, with Norris only crossing the line in 17th, two places behind Piastri.

The latter managed to qualify well but saw his hopes of scoring points ruined on the first lap, when he was forced into an early pit stop due to front wing damage. Norris went on to make a stop of his own shortly afterwards, leaving the McLaren duo propping up the rest of the grid at the very back of the field.

Piastri then proved to be quicker than his more experienced team-mate despite being left on a pair of hard tyres, rather than being put onto fresh rubbers like Norris. The pair battled for position during the closing stages of the race before McLaren officials eventually ordered Norris to avoid fighting Piastri, who then moved ahead on his way to a 15th-placed finish.

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The incident will have been an embarrassing one for Norris, who already seems to be locked in an internal battle with Piastri to determine who the fastest driver is at McLaren this year. He has been linked with a potential move to Mercedes if Lewis Hamilton decides to retire in the not-too-distant future and any further instances where Norris is asked to step back for his team-mate could risk pushing him away from McLaren when coupled with the disappointment of their decline in recent months.

Meanwhile, the fact that Piastri was given preferential treatment over Norris in only his second F1 race suggests that McLaren will be prepared to make him their main priority if he manages to prove himself as the quickest driver on merit over the coming weeks and months.

It remains to be seen whether Norris will find himself gravitating away from the idea of staying at McLaren on a long-term basis, although he will remain tied down to the Woking-based outfit until at least the end of 2025 as a result of the new contract he signed last year. He insisted after Sunday's race in Saudi Arabia that he was still better and quicker than Piastri, with the 23-year-old using the excuse that he only let him past because they were so far adrift of being in contention to score points.

"I could have quite easily probably kept the position at the end and got past the Williams [of Logan Sargeant] but yeah, I just let him go in the end," said Norris. "It would be different if I was fighting for points, but 16th and 17th, it doesn't really matter."

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2023-03-21T05:54:37Z dg43tfdfdgfd