Were it not already a sweltering sauna in Singapore, the growing pressure of this year's Formula One title fight would be enough to make even the toughest competitor wilt. Handling the pressure may determine the difference between McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri as the championship contest ratchets up with every race.
The Championship Battle Remains Finely Poised
Including this weekend's race in Marina Bay, seven races are left and the title race is extremely tight. Piastri leads his British rival by twenty-five points. Each are free to race each other and with the Red Bull driver still a significant sixty-nine in arrears, it is a head-to-head battle, with very little separating between them.
Drawing from Past Winners
Formula One's most experienced and accomplished competitors are familiar with this situation very clearly. In 2007, when Lewis Hamilton just failed to win winning the championship in the last grand prix at Interlagos in his debut season, it showed him the distinct pressure of a title tilt.
“I remember the lead-up to those events at the end and the pressure was present,” he said. “That was not needed. If I knew then what I know now, I would have comfortably secured that title, I think. I have learned not to add stress that’s unneeded.”
Step Into the Cauldron
Step forward, the McLaren duo, to the intense environment. The advantage so far has swung between them. Lando has five victories to Piastri's seven and the duo have barely been off the podium in a McLaren that has been the best on the grid. Piastri has been steadier, with his teammate finding it hard to adapt to a lack of feel for grip from the front axle. Even so, they have dominated, the difference between them often only which could deliver perfectly, across Saturday sessions and the grand prix.
Costly Mistakes for Lando
In this aspect the British driver has been found wanting, small errors were damaging in Shanghai, more so after a disappointing Saturday in Sakhir and worse still when surrendering the championship lead after crashing out in the qualifying session in Jeddah. Then, worst of all, too aggressive in Montreal he collided with his teammate and went out, an enormous setback.
Oscar's Consistency and Minor Errors
The young driver, notably in only his third season in Formula One, has been more comfortable. For some time spinning out at the first race in the wet in Albert Park was his sole error and one which was excusable in the unexpected downpour. Later, the Australian was also overtaken and surpassed by an opportunistic Max at Emilia-Romagna, while his misjudgment and penalty for “unpredictable slowing” under the safety car at Silverstone denied him a probable victory.
Recent Difficulties in Baku
Yet, these were minor hiccups against something of a debacle at the previous race in Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan, Piastri crashed out in the qualifying session putting him in ninth position, only to follow it with a jump start, the car entering anti-stall and dropping him to the rear of the pack.
Trying to gain places on the first lap, he misread the traction and finished in the wall, an uncharacteristic series of mistakes that he acknowledged he could cannot repeat in Singapore.
“Baku was quite a good reminder of how quickly everything can change,” he commented. “There are takeaways about how I can deal with that better and insights on risk I suppose is the most accurate description to describe it. No major changes that require to be altered or that I am going to change.”
Learning from History
The pair are, for all their talent, still refining their skills in Formula One, a path well trodden by some of their peers on the starting lineup. The early stages of Hamilton's time in F1 were exceptional, but he also made his share of mistakes. The McLaren driver could take note of Sakhir in 2008, the year the multiple title winner took his maiden championship but which was characterized by additional errors as he found himself in an intense fight with Felipe Massa.
On the grid in Manama he had failed to correctly set the launch control on his McLaren and it entered anti-stall, relegating him down the grid. Shortly afterwards, trying to regain positions, he clipped the back of the Renault driver's Renault and had to pit with a damaged front wing. He finished thirteenth after a race he called as “a catastrophe”.
Max's Early Development
In the same way the Dutch driver's first years were marked by errors as he gained experience. After one costly crash in Monte Carlo in 2018 then boss Christian Horner publicly demanded his racer to show more discipline.
Max, too, accepted the advice, the inconsistency all but gone when he began winning championships. “This was a learning experience,” he remarked at the moment. “In my career there have been times of character-building and this was another step. Occasionally, it is not enjoyable but at times you need it.”
Closing Observations
Norris and Piastri are not up with the multiple champions so far but they are under the same pressure and absorbing the same lessons. As Niki Lauda observed, the initial championship is invariably the hardest. Securing this championship out is the biggest challenge of their professional lives and will probably fall to the one who can best handle the heat.
