Oscar Piastri says he and McLaren are reviewing “week by week” how much support he should give his team mate in the championship fight.
Lando Norris reduced Max Verstappen’s championship lead to 70 points last weekend. Piastri finished behind both and now lies 116 points off the championship lead with 258 available.
Despite the widening gap between the two McLaren drivers, Piastri says little has changed in the team’s championship priorities and he is still allowed to fight for wins himself.
“I’m very aware that there’s a chance for Lando to win the championship,” Piastri told the official F1 channel. “It is still a very big gap, of course, but it is possible.
“I think for myself, I’m still allowed to go for the best result possible even if that is winning the race myself.”
However Piastri said the situation is under regular review as McLaren strive to close the gap to Red Bull in both championships.
“Of course it will be taken on a week-by-week basis, depending on what the gap is, in some ways,” he said. “So for me it doesn’t change much.
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“I will still go into every weekend trying to win the races if I can, because – okay, the chance for me is very, very tough, but it’s still not zero for myself even. So let’s see what the next few races hold, but it’s something that we will talk about quite a lot, I would imagine.”
Piastri out-scored Norris in the two races prior to the Dutch Grand Prix. In Hungary, McLaren told Norris to give Piastri the lead after unintentionally reversing their running order during the final round of pit stops.
For this weekend, Piastri expects them to continue, but he said he is prepared to do what the team ask of him to help Norris.
“It depends a bit on the situation,” he said. “I’m not just going to pull over for the next nine races and let him go past at every opportunity. And I don’t think that’s something he would want either.
“I think if it gets very, very tight at the front – and nothing’s impossible, it could still be me that that is in the fight, it’s optimistic thinking but you’ve got to be optimistic – so if it starts getting very, very tight, then, yes, the considerations become much more detailed.
“But, for now still with a lot of races to go, a lot of points for Lando to make up, I’m still able to try and achieve the best results I can, which is ultimately helpful for the team as well.”