Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri split emerges over McLaren advantage

McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have delivered contrasting verdicts on the threat posed by Red Bull following last weekend's Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.

Piastri clinched his third victory of the season in Jeddah, moving him to the top of the drivers' standings ahead of his team-mate, who made an impressive recoverey from 10th to finish in fourth spot.

Defending champion Max Verstappen ended the day in second, having been hit with a costly five-second penalty following a controversial first-lap incident with the race winner.

In quotes reported by Marca, Norris said: "Red Bull is just as quick in qualifying, they're just as quick as we are in the race. We don't think we're much further ahead than what's showing.

"I think Max was probably the quickest today, so we have some work to do."

Piastri confident McLaren 'have advantage'

However, when that assessment was put to Piastri in the post-race press conference, he was quick to disagree.

"No, I think our car was still quicker," said the Australian. "I think it was difficult to be in dirty air.

"Max was quicker than I expected for sure in the race. I thought over one lap it wasn't a huge surprise to see Max quick, but in the race, I wasn't expecting to struggle so much at the end of the medium stint, that's for sure.

"I think our car is still very good, but when you look at the layout here compared to Suzuka, it's the most similar so far, and it's been the two where Max and Red Bull have been closer.

"I think we still have an advantage. I don't think it's as big on surfaces like this and layouts like this, but we still have a very strong car at the moment."

With five rounds in the books, McLaren currently hold a 99-point advantage over Red Bull in the constructors' championship, and look almost certain to win a second successive world title.

And with Piastri and Norris occupying the top two spots on the drivers' leaderboard, the team are in prime position to make it a double celebration come the end of the campaign.

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