🔗 Share this article

If it weren't already an intense heatwave in Singapore, the growing pressure of this season's Formula One world championship would be sufficient to make all but the most stoic competitor wilt. Withstanding the pressure may prove the deciding factor between the team's Lando Norris and Piastri as the title battle intensifies with each grand prix.

The Title Fight Is Finely Poised

Including this round's race in Marina Bay, seven races remain and the title race is extremely tight. The Australian is ahead of his British rival by twenty-five points. Each are allowed to compete against one another and with Max Verstappen still a distant sixty-nine points behind, it is a head-to-head contest, with little to choose between them.

Drawing from Previous Winners

F1's most seasoned and successful drivers are familiar with this scenario all too well. In 2007, when Lewis Hamilton narrowly missed securing the championship in the final race at Brazil in his debut season, it taught him the unique challenge of a title tilt.

“I recall the buildup to those races at the conclusion and the pressure was present,” he stated. “That was not needed. Had I known then what I understand today, I would have easily won that title, I think. I've realized to avoid adding stress that’s unnecessary.”

Welcome the Cauldron

Welcome then, Norris and Piastri, to the cauldron. The advantage so far has swung between them. Lando has five wins to Oscar's seven and the pair have scarcely missed the top three in a McLaren car that has been the class of the field. Piastri has been more consistent, with his British rival struggling to adjust to a lack of feel for traction from the front tires. Even so, they have excelled, the gap between them often just which could deliver perfectly, across Saturday sessions and the grand prix.

Expensive Errors for Norris

In this regard Norris has been lacking, minor mistakes were damaging in Shanghai, especially after a poor qualifying in Sakhir and even more troubling when losing the points advantage 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 massive blow.

Oscar's Consistency and Small Errors

The young driver, notably in just his third year in Formula One, has been more at ease. For a while spinning out at the season opener in the wet in Albert Park was his sole error and one which was forgivable in the unexpected downpour. Later, the Melbourne native was also caught out and passed by an alert Max at Imola, while his mistake and sanction for “erratic braking” under the yellow flag at the British Grand Prix cost him a probable victory.

Latest Struggles in Azerbaijan

Yet, these were minor hiccups against a major incident at the previous race in Baku. In Azerbaijan, Piastri hit the wall in the qualifying session putting him in ninth position, only to follow it with a false start, the car going into anti-stall and dropping him to the back of the field.

Chasing positions on the first lap, he misread the traction and ended in the barriers, an unusual sequence of errors that he acknowledged he could ill afford in this weekend's race.

“Baku was quite a good reminder of how quickly things can turn around,” he commented. “There are takeaways about how I can deal with that more effectively and insights on taking chances I suppose is the most accurate description to describe it. No major changes that require to change or that I am going to adjust.”

Learning from History

The pair are, for all their talent, still honing their abilities in F1, a path well trodden by other drivers on the grid. The opening years of Hamilton's career were exceptional, but he also made his fair share of mistakes. The McLaren driver could take note of Bahrain in 2008, the year the seven-time champion won his first title but which was marked by other mistakes as he was engaged in an intense fight with his Ferrari rival.

On the grid in Bahrain he had not managed to correctly set the launch control on his McLaren and it went into anti-stall, relegating him to the back. Soon after, trying to regain places, he touched the back of Fernando Alonso's Renault and had to make a stop with a damaged nose. He came thirteenth after a grand prix he called as “a catastrophe”.

Max's Early Career

In the same way Verstappen's first years were defined by misjudgments as he learned his craft. After one costly crash in Monte Carlo in 2018 then team principal Christian Horner publicly demanded his racer to show more discipline.

Max, also, accepted the advice, the inconsistency all but gone when he started claiming championships. “This was character-building,” he remarked at the time. “Throughout my life there have been times of character-building and this was one more stage. Sometimes, it is unpleasant but sometimes you need it.”

Closing Thoughts

Norris and Piastri are not up with Hamilton and Verstappen yet but they are under the same pressure and learning the identical insights. As Niki Lauda noted, the first title is always the most difficult. Securing this one out is the biggest challenge of their professional lives and will likely be decided by the driver who can best handle the pressure.