'Secret weapon’ giving Oscar Piastri the edge over Lando Norris in F1 title fight

1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve has tipped Mark Webber’s influence as a “big help” for Oscar Piastri in his title fight against McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

After 14 rounds this year, just nine points separate Piastri and Norris at the top of the F1 drivers’ championship.

Piastri was immediately more comfortable behind the wheel of the MCL39, taking a hat-trick of wins in the early phase of the campaign.

A suspension upgrade for Lando Norris has seemingly transformed his season.

Since his DNF in Canada, Norris has won three of the last four races.

Norris benefitted from Piastri’s 10-second time penalty for a Safety Car infringement at Silverstone.

Norris capitalised on a risky one-stop strategy in Hungary to beat his teammate by less than a second.

Villeneuve expects that Piastri’s having Webber in his corner - Webber is his manager - could be important heading into the final stretch of the season.

“Isn’t that great? It’s really brilliant and when you see that at McLaren it brings back a lot of memories from the Prost-Senna era and other teams when you had Piquet and Mansell,” Villeneuve told Vision4Sport.

“There were always a lot of internal battles which were super exciting because ultimately, you know, they have the same team, same car, the same base to work on. So, it’s exciting to see; no one can complain.

“They have the same base to work on, they have the same salad and it’s for them then to mix it to their own advantage and to their taste.

“How do they make sure that the car is quicker, but quicker for them, not quicker for their teammate?

“That’s when it becomes super interesting. And it will be interesting to see how they both evolve in that direction. The fact that Mark Webber is with Oscar Piastri will be a big help.”

Who’s the favourite for the F1 title?

While Piastri has been less error-prone than his teammate, the pair have generally been evenly-matched.

Piastri has a narrow advantage in qualifying, leading 8-6 in the head-to-head.

In races, the pair are level at 7-7 ahead of the next race at Zandvoort. 

Piastri has one more victory than Norris, with the Australian taking six wins so far this year.

The momentum is currently on Norris’ side, winning three of the last four races.

However, Piastri could have easily won those three races.

Piastri looked faster in the race in Austria, but crucially, he couldn’t make a move stick.

He led the British GP, but was handed a 10-second time penalty for a Safety Car infringement, as he braked too heavily and caught Max Verstappen out.

Piastri was battling Charles Leclerc for the win at the Hungaroring.

However, Norris’ one-stop strategy gave him crucial track position.