Oscar Piastri praised for showing “killer instinct” in Lando Norris battle

Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle has credited Oscar Piastri for displaying a “racer’s mentality” and “killer instinct” during his battle with McLaren teammate Lando Norris on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix.

Piastri overtook Norris with a bold manoeuvre into Turn 4, taking the race lead.

The move appeared to catch Norris off guard, causing him to lose out to Charles Leclerc at the next corner.

This decisive moment in the race put Norris on the back foot during a weekend where he had the opportunity to significantly reduce Max Verstappen’s championship lead amid Red Bull’s struggles.

Writing in his post-race column for Sky Sports, Brundle admitted that he ‘admired’ Piastri’s attitude from a racer’s perspective.

“Piastri clearly has no interest in Norris' world championship chances against Max Verstappen, which we'd already witnessed in Hungary when he firmly seized the lead in the first corner,” Brundle wrote.

“The racer in me admires this attitude. That's why Piastri won championships and ended up in a race-winning F1 car. The last thing which will excite him is Norris becoming world champion in the same car.

“That doesn't mean he won't help out at some point, and indeed that he hasn't helped out here and there already, but that racer's mentality and killer instinct is all important.

“I remember saying in commentary in Hungary, if the roles had been reversed, would Piastri have handed Norris the lead back, and I really don't know the answer.

“I do know that many ruthless and selfish world champions I've raced against wouldn't have.”

Ahead of Azerbaijan next week, Norris sits 62 points behind Verstappen with eight rounds to go.

Had he won in Hungary instead of letting Piastri past, and finished ahead of the Australian at Monza, the gap to Verstappen would be just 54 points - just over two race victories in F1.