Lando Norris admitted McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri's handling of pressure in his rookie season was probably “better than I remember when I started”, but every F1 driver's experience is different .
Throughout his first year at the top level of motorsport, Piastri has shown a seemingly calm demeanor, repeatedly proving unfazed, and his calm demeanor in races has earned him recognition from fellow drivers and experts alike. , which received praise from fans as well. Media to boot.
Norris greatly admired that aspect of his young teammate's personality, earning him “huge respect” from the Briton across the garage.
Lando Norris praises Oscar Piastri: 'He was very good at dealing with pressure'
Norris comfortably won McLaren's two-driver championship in 2023, scoring 205 points to his rookie teammate's 97, earning seven podiums in the process.
Piastri took his first podium and proved his potential by taking a non-racing victory in the sprint in Qatar and fending off Max Verstappen from start to finish.
Norris has praised the way his McLaren colleagues have handled their promotion to F1, admitting that they were probably better at dealing with pressure than they were in his rookie year, but he now knows how to deal with pressure himself. I understand it much better.
“Oscar had a great season,” Norris said of his teammate. Quoted by Crash.net.
“It’s good to remember to stay calm and be yourself.
“I think he was very good at dealing with pressure, much better than I remember myself when I started. , I think it's because everyone responds to all this very differently.”
“I think that's something I've gotten a lot better at over the years. Now I know how to deal with all these things myself.
“I have a lot of respect for Oscar for being able to remain so calm in a new environment on the big stage of F1.”
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And Piastri himself joined F1 after winning back-to-back championships in F3 and F2 and taking a year off as an alpine reserve.
After taking some time to get used to the big stage, he was so impressed with his improvement over the season that he was awarded a long-term contract extension with McLaren.
Given everything he had to deal with in his first year as an F1 driver, the Australian said it was a “privilege” to have the opportunity to compete while learning the rigors of F1 in this way. In front of the field I believe.
“It's definitely been a bigger roller coaster than I expected,” Piastri told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets, reflecting on his first season in the sport.
“I knew there would be ups and downs, maybe not so much 'down' at the beginning and 'up' at the end, but I really learned a lot.
“I feel like I’ve been in basically every situation except competing for a championship, so it’s been a good year in terms of learning.
“I think as a team, we're learning how to compete on the front lines again. It's exciting, but we're not in the position we've been in for 10 years.” So going through these scenarios, the conversation again It's great to be able to do that.
“And for me, it's a real honor to be able to compete on the front lines so early in my career. There are some people who continue their F1 career without being given the opportunities that I had in 22 races.
“So I'm very, very grateful for that and I'm looking forward to the years to come to hopefully be able to do that more often.”
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