Norris Certainly Not Out Of Title Fight - Piastri

Italian Grand Prix

Venue: Monza Dates: 5-7 September Race start: 14:00 BST connected Sunday

Coverage: Live commentary of believe and qualifying connected BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and Sports Extra 2 pinch title connected BBC Radio 5 Live; unrecorded matter updates connected BBC Sport website and app

Oscar Piastri says his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris is "certainly not retired of nan fight" for nan title.

Norris fell to 34 points down Piastri aft his motor grounded while he was moving successful 2nd spot to nan Australian astatine nan Dutch Grand Prix connected Sunday.

The spread is large capable that Norris would person to triumph nan adjacent 5 races successful a row, pinch Piastri 2nd successful each of them, to retake nan title lead.

Piastri said: "It's a spot much difficult now, but I don't expect overmuch to change. I deliberation we'll title each different nan aforesaid way. I deliberation nan magnitude of consequence taking will beryllium nan same.

"We're some trying to beryllium arsenic accelerated arsenic we can. It's not for illustration we've been holding thing backmost from that broadside of things. So I don't expect thing to change."

This weekend's Italian Grand Prix is nan last European title of nan play pinch 9 rounds remaining.

Piastri, 24, said he had individual acquisition successful 1 of nan inferior categories "of this not being a comfortable gap".

He said: "I've had a overmuch bigger spread than this and had it beautiful overmuch erased earlier nan last round. It's still acold excessively early to beryllium benignant of calculating and settling for positions that aren't first.

"So for me, nan attack is still precisely nan same. And yeah, that won't alteration until nan spread is beautiful importantly bigger aliases nan magnitude of races is importantly smaller."

The McLaren drivers person won 12 of nan 15 races truthful acold this twelvemonth and Piastri said successful an question and reply pinch BBC Radio 5 Live's Rick Edwards that he had not expected specified a level of dominance.

"The spread to everyone other and nan magnitude of wins, that's astir apt nan astir astonishing one," Piastri said, "because I've won, what, 5 much races this twelvemonth than I had my full career.

"Admittedly, it's been a short career, but to person that galore wins and to person a car and a squad that's been truthful dominant, that's been nan biggest surprise."

He said nan McLaren had been "a joyousness to drive" and that "in immoderate ways, not having to interest astir excessively galore different teams is nice".

Norris, however, said he wished now that location were different teams capable to get into nan conflict for wins.

"We're truthful ascendant arsenic a team, that almost makes my life harder, truthful that's really nan astir frustrating portion of it all," nan Briton said. "Otherwise, yeah, it's still to an effect 'may nan champion man win' and 'may nan champion driver win' and if that's nan lawsuit astatine nan extremity of nan season, past I'll respect that."

Norris said it had been "surprisingly easy" to put nan disappointment of Zandvoort down him earlier arriving astatine Monza.

"It's been 1 of nan things I've been moving connected a batch distant from nan track, abstracted from my driving and conscionable nan wide stuff," he said.

"There's a alteration and there's decidedly things I've improved on. It doesn't mean that I don't get irritated and disappointment erstwhile I don't do good and I make mistakes and I suffer retired connected rod aliases don't triumph races.

"I still get disappointment by those moments and I still get down and whatever, but thing I'm overmuch amended astatine now is dealing pinch it and not letting it impact thing else.

"So it's, yeah, amazingly easy astir apt for myself to put it down and look up to this weekend, truthful that's what I'm excited for."

As for his run for nan championship, he said that he wanted to effort to claw backmost nan shortage without Piastri suffering immoderate misfortune himself.

"I conscionable wish that I tin find that past small spot that I tin still triumph nan title without thing happening. That's nan measurement I wish to do it," he added.

"I can't do a batch much because I consciousness for illustration I'm doing already everything I can, truthful it's not for illustration this was a trigger and now I tin abruptly commencement doing more.

"If I suffer nan title by those points, past I conscionable person to support my chin up, my caput held precocious and effort to do it again adjacent year.

"I can't dwell connected those moments excessively much, it's not anyone's nonstop fault. Even if it was, I conscionable person to return it connected nan chin and move on, truthful that's each I'm trying to do now.

"In nan end, if he's done a amended job, I springiness credits to him and I opportunity he's done a amended job. That's conscionable really I am."