Lando Norris not worried about championship standings despite early deficit

Lando Norris insists he is not thinking about his deficit to McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the championship standings.

Australian Piastri has won the last three races after success in Miami a fortnight ago, when Norris paid the price for a first-lap tussle with Max Verstappen which allowed his team-mate to get ahead.

Piastri arrives at Imola this weekend for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with a 16-point lead over Norris after winning four of the first six races.

But British driver Norris is not concerned by his current position and is focused on improving his own performances.

Asked if he was thinking about the title standings, Norris said: “No, is the answer.

“I don’t care about it and won’t think about it. It is easy for things to change.

“Also Red Bull are not far behind, Mercedes are not far behind so they are doing a good job. But we (McLaren) are doing a better job.

“Every race is important and yes we know they have upgrades and they talk a lot but at the end of the day we need to just do a good job on Sunday.

“If we keep focusing on ourselves then we will be fine.”

Norris believes that his competition with Piastri is good for both of them as drivers and says their will to beat each other is a positive.

“It makes for a better team. It makes for better teamwork. You are always going to do a better job if you have a good team-mate,” Norris said.

“Oscar has done a good job. But a lot of it is just focusing on myself.

“I don’t feel like I have been getting the maximum out of myself. We have a good competition.

“We both acknowledge that we want to beat each other. But I think that is what makes us good team-mates.”

Piastri’s win in Miami added to success in China, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and has seen him establish himself as the title favourite.

He is the first Australian to lead the standings since his manager Mark Webber in 2010.

“When you’ve won four out of six, it’s been a great start,” Piastri said.

“I’ve been enjoying the success we’ve been having on track, but for me what’s been very satisfying is all the work we’ve done behind the scenes to achieve that.

“It’s quite a different feeling when you win a race because you feel like you’ve just gotten by or had good circumstances.

“But to now be winning because we have an incredibly quick car and I feel like I’m driving well, that’s very satisfying.

“Of course, I’ve been enjoying standing on the podium as well. But more so the hard work behind the success.”