20/07/2025 17:18
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has insisted it is "so close"
between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, and judged that neither
driver has more momentum than the other. Piastri leads Norris in
the drivers' title by a marginal eight points, with Max Verstappen
in third sitting 69 points adrift ahead of the second half of the
season. As a result of the four-time world champion's deficit, it
is expected to be an all-McLaren scrap for the championship this
year. No team has consistently taken the fight to the Woking-based
outfit, who boast a 238-point lead in the constructors' standings.
Due to the huge advantage, Piastri and Norris have been freed to
fight for a maiden drivers' crown. Both drivers have secured 10
podiums this year, whilst Piastri has one more victory at five.
Very little has separated the pair all season, although Palmer
pointed out that the title fight would have looked different if
Piastri had won in Austria and Silverstone. Asked on the F1 Nation
podcast whether Piastri or Norris has the momentum going into the
second half of the season, Palmer said: "It's 50/50, it's
beautifully set at an eight-point difference and a 50/50 split.
That's where we're at. "Lando has pulled it back in the last couple
of weekends, but those weekends have been really a toss up, whether
Oscar is going to take this right away from him or Lando narrows
the gap. "So you've got Austria, they're wheel to wheel for 20
laps. Oscar takes the lead momentarily, and if he holds on to that
lead, the gap is going to balloon out. Instead, Lando manages to
out-race him and then win the race. "And then Silverstone, the
penalty that I think is really harsh on Oscar, it's, again, it's a
tough decision that falls towards Lando. "So the performance gap
between them is so close, but the last two races have just bought
it down. But I still think that performance wise, it's a split
between them."
