Norris says he won’t ask Piastri to move over if needed in F1 title decider

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Lando Norris says he won’t ask his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to give up a place to favor him in the three-way Formula 1 title fight with Max Verstappen at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Norris has a 12-point lead over Verstappen going into Sunday’s race, with Piastri four points further back.

If Verstappen is far ahead of both McLarens, it’s possible Piastri could be in a situation where he can’t take the title himself but can aid Norris’ title bid. If Verstappen wins on Sunday, a top-three finish would be enough for Norris.

“Honestly, I mean I would love it but I don’t think I would ask it because it’s up to Oscar if he would allow it. I don’t think it’s necessarily down to me,” Norris said, sitting alongside Piastri and Verstappen at a pre-race news conference on Thursday.

Norris added he believed he would help out Piastri if the roles were reversed but said they hadn’t discussed any such situations within the team.

“Personally, I think I would, just because I feel like that’s just how I am, but this, it’s not really up to me,” Norris said. “I’m not going to ask it. I don’t want to ask it because I don’t think it’s necessarily a fair question.”

Piastri left the issue open. “It’s not something we’ve discussed,” he said. “I don’t really have an answer until I know what’s expected of me.”

Norris had the chance to wrap up the title at last week’s Qatar Grand Prix but a pit strategy blunder by McLaren handed Verstappen the win to boost his title defense chances. Piastri was second and Norris fourth in Qatar.

Verstappen said he plans just to “have a good time out there, try to maximize the result,” but admitted that in the circumstances, “I don’t even know what that means, in terms of where you are in the ranking.”

Mercedes driver George Russell was a vocal critic on Thursday of any suggestion Piastri might be asked to sacrifice even slim title chances, regardless of whether it means neither of McLaren’s drivers ends up with the championship. No McLaren driver has taken the title since Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

“I don’t think it’s acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who’s also in a shot of a championship in the very last race to move over for your teammate,” Russell said. “I think they both need to be given a shot and if they lose out because of it, you just need to say the other guy did a better job and that’s racing.”

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing