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Oscar Piastri has responded to comments from Max Verstappen as the Red Bull driver gave his take on the implementation of team orders at McLaren. After a dominant start to the season for the Dutch driver, Red Bull's drop in performance has meant that Lando Norris has closed the gap to Verstappen to 52 points with six races left.
Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, is a sizeable distance behind Norris, so McLaren made the call that they would back the British driver for the title. What that meant was an implementation of team orders for the rest of the season where Norris would be favoured and Piastri would be asked to give up position if required.
Heading into the US GP race weekend, Max Verstappen said that when it comes to him, he wouldn't have done anything like this. Commending Oscar Piastri for being a brilliant driver, Verstappen said that the Australian is too good to be a second driver.
Piastri responded that it's not as straightforward as it's being portrayed. He gave the example of Norris helping him in Baku to secure a win and that it's all about maximising the result for the team. He told the media, including Sportskeeda:
“Personally I think Max is a pretty straightforward guy. He says what he thinks. We all know that. So I think in my position I don’t see it as being a number one, number two.
"If I put in good performances and deserve them on merit then as we’ve said before … Baku is a perfect example, really, of not giving up everything this season purely for the benefit of Lando."
He added:
“(I’m) trying to help the team as best as I can. So it’s not simply number one, number two. We still have the same car, we still have the same opportunities and last weekend (in Singapore) Lando did a better job than me and won the race. I appreciate his (Verstappen) support, but it’s not really how I view it.”
What Max Verstappen had said about the Oscar Piastri situation
Max Verstappen was quite sympathetic to the situation Oscar Piastri finds himself in at McLaren.
While acknowledging that the Australian is at a nascent stage of his F1 career, Verstappen admitted that he would have declined any such request if it came from his team. He said:
“For me, he’s definitely not a [number two driver] and if I was him I would never accept it. For me, it’s easy to talk, of course, because I’ve been in Formula 1 for 10 years and it’s Oscar’s second season, so it is always harder to put your foot down."
The race in Austin is arguably pivotal when it comes to the title battle. If Max Verstappen can keep a strong enough form this weekend, that would be a blow for Norris' title chances.
