Lando Norris' crash in Saudi Arabia was caused by Oscar Piastri's competitiveness

F1 pundit Peter Windsor recently claimed that Lando Norris' mistake during the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP qualifying session was somewhat caused by Oscar Piastri. In Q1, Norris clipped the wall on the last turn and had to start the race from P19. Though this looked like a normal driver error, Windsor thinks it has something to do with Piastri's entry into F1 alongside Norris.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, he initially claimed that Lando Norris' mistake in Saudi Arabian GP qualifying would not have happened if Daniel Ricciardo was still his teammate. He said:

"If you look at Lando in Saudi Arabia when, on the end of his Q1 lap he just turned into the apex guard rail and that was it, he started from the back of the grid. I don't believe that would have happened had his teammate been Daniel Ricciardo."

Later on, he claimed how Lando Norris lost a bit of concentration simply because Oscar Piastri was alongside him in the team and was much more competitive than Ricciardo.

Moreover, in that particular qualifying session, Piastri was about to enter Q3, which was a great achievement for the youngster and even for McLaren. Hence, Windsor feels that Norris' mind wavered a little, causing him to crash into the wall. He said:

"I think that happened because he knew that by the end of that lap he wasn't up anywhere on the very, very quick young Australian and because of that he lost concentration slightly maybe he was looking at the dash, maybe he was thinking what am I going to do, how am I going to be quicker, what am I going to...bang, you hit the wall."

The F1 pundit concluded:

"For sure, mentally, there was something going on."

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Oscar Piastri made Lando Norris his benchmark to improve in F1

Oscar Piastri is one of the most talented young racing drivers in F1. However, the pinnacle of single-seater racing can still be quite daunting. Piastri spoke about how he observes his teammate, Lando Norris, to learn about the sport and improve as much as possible. He said:

"I see that when I work with him. I see it the same way he does that we expect the same from the car and also have a similar way of working. It's also good for the team because we give the engineers a clear direction can pretend!"

The 22-year-old added:

"I see how he deals with small details and how he approaches the debriefings. There are always areas where I can improve and having him as a benchmark is really good."

There is no doubt that Oscar Piastri has brought fresh energy to McLaren and is performing better than Daniel Ricciardo. Only time will tell whether he will be able to consistently challenge Norris and other drivers on the grid.