Oscar Piastri has revealed that his relationship with Lando Norris will remain stable even as the McLaren drivers battle for the world title.
Following his important victory in Monaco, Norris heads to Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix just three points behind his Australian teammate.
McLaren have now won six of their eight races, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen, the only non-British driver to win this season, said this week he no longer sees himself as a title contender.
“It's obviously an interesting situation but my relationship with Lando both on and off the track is the same as it was before and, to be honest, we get on better now than ever,” Piastri told the PA news agency.
“Our partnership to achieve maximum success remains as strong as ever and has been our strength since we became teammates.”
“We get along very well. That hasn't changed and I don't expect it to change. However, we both want to win the World Cup and only one of us can do it.”
Piastri and Norris are in their third campaign as teammates, but the first time they are vying for the title. McLaren have said both can fight – a noble philosophy, although it rarely leads to good results.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's friendship suffered during three seasons when they were title rivals while Mercedes dominated the sport. At Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya in 2016, Hamilton and Rosberg collided on the first lap – just one of many tense moments that led to Toto Wolff threatening both drivers with disqualification.
However, Piastri, who is 24 and a year younger than Norris, continued: “We are both very different personalities (compared to Hamilton and Rosberg).
“If you look at Niko, he was already at the end of his career. Maybe he was overwhelmed by some emotions and the stakes were higher?
“Lando and I are still at the beginning of our Formula 1 careers. We want to be able to fight for the title every year, not just this season. It's not a bad problem for the team to have, and we've already done a lot of preparation to prevent any potential conflicts
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
