Oscar Piastri hasn’t had “direct discussions” about helping Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi

Oscar Piastri has revealed that he’s yet to speak to McLaren about helping teammate Lando Norris in the F1 title race.

The three title contenders qualified in the top three for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen, who is 12 points behind Norris, lines up on pole position at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Norris will start second, with Piastri in third.

A podium finish will guarantee Norris the title, even if Verstappen wins the race.

Piastri would need to win - or outscore Norris by 17 points - to become champion.

With Verstappen on pole, it’s expected that the Dutchman may deploy some form of backing-up tactics to try to fluster Norris, potentially dropping him down the order.

Piastri could play an important role, either by defending from cars behind to protect Norris or by moving aside for his teammate should the situation require it.

Piastri admitted that his role in the title fight still needs to be discussed internally.

“We will discuss it,” Piastri told Sky Sports. “I’ve not had any direct discussions about that yet but until either Max or Lando crosses the line ahead of me then I am still in the running. We will see what that looks like tomorrow.”

Why is Piastri the outsider?

It’s hard to believe that Piastri enters Sunday as the outsider in the championship battle.

He was 34 points clear of Norris following his victory at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Since then, Piastri hasn’t won a race and has only finished on the podium twice.

His form dipped after a nightmare weekend in Azerbaijan, where he crashed out on Lap 1.

Piastri then struggled for pace relative to Norris at the following events, finishing fifth on three occasions.

Piastri retuned to form in Qatar - but was robbed of the win after a strategy blunder from McLaren.

Looking ahead to the race in Abu Dhabi, Piastri said: “Not really sure yet. I haven’t thought that far ahead. Obviously to try and win the championship I need more than to just simply win the race. We will see what that entails.”

“It could do. We will see how it gets played.”