Double standards? Lando Norris criticised “for a lot less” than Oscar Piastri

1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve believes Lando Norris has been unfairly criticised compared to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Norris stormed to a dominant victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix, winning the race by over 30 seconds.

The British driver’s latest triumph means he leads the F1 drivers’ championship for the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

There is now just one point between the McLaren drivers with four rounds to go.

Momentum is with Norris, having clawed back Piastri’s 34-point lead after the Dutch Grand Prix.

Piastri’s recent struggles

Piastri’s results - and general pace - have fallen off a cliff in recent rounds.

The Australian crashed out on the opening lap in Azerbaijan after jumping the start.

The last two races in Austin and Mexico City were also worrying for Piastri.

He finished fifth at the Circuit of the Americas, struggling for pace relative to Norris, and qualified down in eighth in Mexico.

Piastri recovered to fifth in Mexico, but he was still nowhere near the level he had shown earlier in the year.

McLaren boss Andrea Stella hinted that the disparity in pace was due to their respective driving styles. Piastri’s aggressive style didn’t suit the low-grip conditions of Austin or Mexico.

Is Norris criticised more?

Norris was heavily criticised earlier in the year for his mistakes and general poor form.

Villeneuve feels that despite Piastri “crumbling”, he hasn’t faced the same scrutiny.

“If you look at the first half of the season, he was very good at berating himself always, even too much,” Villeneuve said. “People really clamped on that, and they were starting to criticise him a lot.

“He’s really come back now and he doesn’t berate himself anymore. He’s still very politically correct in all his answers because he’s not giving us anything, but when you look at the way Piastri has crumbled, he’s not getting criticised the same way Norris has been criticised for a lot less.

“We’ll see how that pans out in the long run.”