Oscar Piastri responds to Max Verstappen’s ‘definitely not a number two driver’ verdict

Oscar Piastri has responded to Max Verstappen’s “not” a number two driver claim, saying it’s not about being a wingman to Lando Norris, it’s about helping the team as best he can.

With McLaren have found themselves in a position to challenge for the double this season, team boss Andrea Stella made it clear that the team will “bias our support” towards Lando Norris who is 52 points behind Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri: ‘It’s not really how I view it’

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

Piastri will where possible support his team-mate’s bid to win the title with McLaren hoping to play a two-car strategy against Verstappen.

Verstappen says if he was Piastri, he would “never accept it” as the Australian driver is “not” a number two driver.

“He’s just a great F1 driver who doesn’t deserve it to give up wins and positions and play second fiddle because he’s asked to,” the Red Bull driver added.

Piastri though doesn’t see it that way, rather he says it’s about helping McLaren.

“Personally I think Max is a pretty straightforward guy. He says what he thinks,” he told media including PlanetF1.com. “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.

“[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.”

F1 2024: McLaren team-mate head-to-head stats

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Oscar Piastri rues ‘few mistakes’ in SQ1

Piastri will line up 16th on the Sprint grid in Austin after his lap time deleted for a track limits infringement late in the session.

He admits it’s going to be difficult to work his way into the points in the short race with only the top eight scoring points.

“It’s a shame to be out of Sprint Qualifying so early. Most of the lap was good, but I just made a few mistakes in the last sector,” he said.

“In the second to last corner, I tried to carry a bit too much speed and just exceeded the limits of the track.

“It’s a shame but one of the good things about Sprint weekends is that we have another chance to show our true pace.

“It’s going to be tough to get back up into the points from where we are, but we’ll do what we can and try to secure some valuable points for the team.”

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