Oscar Piastri has confirmed that he is willing to hand over the sprint race victory to team-mate Lando Norris on Saturday, despite topping the timing charts in the sprint shootout.
The young Australian will line up on the sprint pole on Saturday with his team-mate alongside him, but Piastri knows that he is unlikely to cross the line in P1, given the importance McLaren are placing on Norris’ championship charge.
With tittle rival Max Verstappen starting down in fourth place, Norris has the chance to gain significant ground on the Red Bull star, and he has the backing of his team-mate in the process.
“We’ll see what the pace is like tomorrow for both of us,” Piastri told Sky Sports F1 after the sprint shootout. “I think first and second is the first objective and then we’ll see what order it is.
“I know that I’m not in the running for the drivers’ standings, for the team it doesn’t matter which way round we are, so I know that’s the case and we’ll see.
“I’ve said I would [hand over a victory] from when we first had these discussions. It would be nice to win, but it’s one point different and it’s not the main race, so we’ll see.
“Lando needs the points in the drivers’ standings a lot more than I do, but of course, I still want to win. If I put in the effort and show good pace I’m sure that won’t go unnoticed, but we’ll see.”
While Piastri was in a buoyant but measured move after the sprint shootout, team-mate Norris was short on patience and snapped back at a reporter when asked about Verstappen’s P4 grid slot.
“I don’t care,” he hit back. “I hate this question so much. I don’t care about where he qualifies. For me, it’s just [a matter of] focus on my own job and that’s it. It’s the same question every time but it doesn’t matter. If he’s first, if he’s last, I’ll do the best I can.”
