What Lando Norris’ contract means for Oscar Piastri as F1 heads to Monza

Ahead of round 13 of the 2026 Formula 1 season at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza this weekend, BBC Sport's F1 Q&A examined the implications of Lando Norris' new contract extension for team-mate Oscar Piastri. After 12 rounds, Piastri sits seventh in the drivers' championship, 55 points adrift of Norris.

Norris has won the past two grands prix, and Monza is also Ferrari's home circuit, although the long straights may not suit their car. BBC Sport's Andrew Benson notes Piastri has not begun this season as strongly as in 2025, a year in which he looked for a long period to be on course for a title before his campaign later unravelled.

Piastri's clearest bid for victory this season came in Hungary, where he took the lead after Norris made an error on the first lap but then lost position after being delayed while lapping Carlos Sainz's Williams. He acknowledged his pace on the hard tyres was weak and subsequently retired with a broken gearbox.

Qualifying comparisons show Norris leading their head-to-head 12-4, though single-lap pace is close with Norris only 0.071 seconds faster on average. Benson writes that Norris has been the more convincing race performer, which accounts for Piastri's 55-point and three-place deficit in the standings.

Technical factors have been offered as explanations for Piastri's relative drop in form: his strength in high-speed corners has been diminished because engines are using those sections to charge the battery, and the cars now run with less downforce, making low-grip conditions more challenging for him. Benson adds that Norris consistently improved through the second half of last season to win the world title and has continued to raise his level this year.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella discussed the issue from a technical and mental-adaptation perspective, saying: "Last year, we had seen already with Oscar that, from a technical driving point of view, when the car has this low level of grip, like we saw last year for instance in Mexico or in Austin, he needs to adapt the way he drives, the way he thinks, the driving, his expectations. "This requires a bit of mental effort, which gets him to lose a couple of tenths of a second because you sort of have to process rather than drive through pure instinct because what happens is what you expect. "So it's one of those cases in which you have to adapt your natural driving style to the demand of the car. So it stays in the space of driving and in the space of the technical side of things. I don't think it has anything to do with any psychological kind of opportunity. This is purely technical." He added that the top three teams are close and that "as soon as things are not optimised, then you may have a very significant positional loss - it's very brutal from this point of view".

Both McLaren and Piastri reject suggestions of tension in their relationship. Benson reports McLaren explored signing Max Verstappen over the summer and that, had that move occurred, Piastri would likely have been the replacement. That possibility receded with Verstappen's new contract with Red Bull, though the article notes that contract contains performance clauses and could leave scope for renewed interest if Red Bull struggle next year; Piastri is under contract at McLaren until at least the end of 2027.

Mercedes have announced Kimi Antonelli will take a new engine for the Italian Grand Prix and will incur a significant grid penalty, likely meaning a start from the back. Mercedes judged Monza the best track for the change because its long straights make any slight performance increase from a fresh engine most effective and because of how the team can deploy engines from the pool across the remainder of the season. Toto Wolff said: "With Kimi, we are taking the full thing. In theory, our calculations say that it's the best track to take it. Obviously, algorithms don't take the nationality into consideration. I'm not ready to fight for a championship and get the best PR. That's what we're going to do." Antonelli leads the championship by 59 points and commented: "Of course, it's my home race and all that kind of stuff, but, you know, I think it's the best race to do so. So, I think it still will give me a chance to do a great result and bring home good points." The piece also notes George Russell will likely take his own penalty at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for similar reasons.

The Q&A frames the headline storylines headed into the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this weekend — Norris arriving on a two-race winning run, Piastri seeking to recover form, and Antonelli taking a new engine with an associated grid penalty for the race.