‘No one will care when we’re dead’ - Lando Norris on F1 title battle

Lando Norris has offered a remarkably cool stance on his F1 title battle with Oscar Piastri.

The Briton is 16 points behind McLaren teammate Piastri heading into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, which is the final race before F1’s three-week August shutdown.

Norris had claimed some recent momentum with back-to-back victories in Austria and Great Britain, but Piastri extended his advantage in the championship by overtaking polesitter Norris last time out in Belgium.

So far, the McLaren duo’s title duel has remained harmonious and the pair have largely avoided contact, other than a collision in Canada which Norris immediately shouldered the blame for.

When asked if he needs to get under Piastri’s skin, Norris told PA: "I don't enjoy that. In 200 years no one is going to care. We'll all be dead.

"I am trying to have a good time. I still care about it, and that's why I get upset sometimes and I get disappointed and I get angry at myself. And I think that shows just how much I care about winning and losing.

"But that doesn't mean I need to take it out on Oscar. I just don't get into those kind of things.

"Yes, he [Piastri] is the guy I want to beat more than anyone else.

"But if I don't beat him, then that's just because he has done a better job. I will do it the way I believe is best for me, and just because one person did it a few years ago, it doesn't mean you have to do that, too.

“I don't really care about those things.”

Norris and Piastri’s relationship ‘keeps improving’

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes the relationship between his drivers “keeps improving” despite their intra-team battle for the world title.

"Let me say that if anything, the relationship between Oscar and Lando keeps improving, and this is not the effect of a random evolution,” Stella said on Saturday at the Hungaroring, where Crash.net are on the ground.

"This is because we invest in relationships. Relationships are one of the, when I refer to fundamentals of Formula 1, actually relationships are probably slightly less tangible, but I think it's as fundamental as aerodynamics and this involves the relationship between drivers and the team and the drivers.

"If I take the race that we had last year in Hungary, we spent quite a lot of time in reviewing that individually with the drivers together, the two drivers, we tried to learn each other as much as possible.

"We tried to remind ourselves that F1 is difficult and we are always going to face some difficulties, and this is an awareness that we need to have.

"From there, [we consider] what can we do to improve and what can we do as a team to make sure that we have a framework that allows Lando and Oscar to pursue their aspirations, always protecting the interests of the team.

"I'm a lucky [team principal] because the two drivers are very reasonable, very fair, very correct, humble, and above all they understand that we are here not only to pursue our interests in the present, but we are also here to protect the future of their own careers and of McLaren."