Mark Webber has privately pinpointed one ‘crucial’ difference between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at McLaren

Oscar Piastri leads the Formula 1 world championship by 10 points heading into the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend. He responded well after McLaren teammate Lando Norris cut the deficit.

Piastri slipped from pole position to third in a difficult Emilia Romagna GP, with Norris second behind Max Verstappen. He had to move over for the sister car at the end of the race due to the major difference in tyre performance.

Norris then proceeded to win the Monaco GP from pole position, with Piastri third again – this time behind Charles Leclerc. His lead had fallen by 13 points in two weekends.

But Piastri prevented Norris from building momentum by taking pole in Spain and delivering his fifth victory of the season. Since spinning out at the season-opening Australian GP, he’s collected 184 out of a possible 216 points.

Amid the pressure of his first F1 title fight, Piastri has shown impressive consistency. He’s qualified on the front two rows at every event and picked up 10 podiums out of a possible 11 (including Sprints).

Natalie Pinkham shares the brilliant thing Mark Webber told her about Oscar Piastri’s mindset

Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, Natalie Pinkham raved about Piastri’s attitude. She thinks his introverted demeanour has helped him maintain his focus.

When she spoke to Mark Webber, Piastri’s manager, in the Monaco GP paddock, she learned that Piastri ‘sleeps like a baby every night’. That’s because he has little interest in what the wider world thinks of him.

By contrast, Norris has been labelled ‘Mr Corporate’. Peter Windsor has accused him of spending too much time cultivating a social media persona.

Likewise, John Watson has called Norris an ‘influencer’ and suggested he needs to focus more on F1.

“He doesn’t go out there on social media, he doesn’t reveal all,” Pinkham said of Piastri. “As you’ve seen, there are certain other drivers that come in and they’re doing all the socials, all the TikToks, and they’re almost overexposing themselves and distracting themselves from what’s going on on track.

“Oscar’s just not like that, and I’m really enjoying the process of getting to know who this kid is who’s unbelievably quick and very methodical and just has this incredible approach.

“I talked to Mark Webber about it in Monaco and he said that ‘Oscar just doesn’t waste time, energy or mental capacity thinking about what other people think of him. It doesn’t bother him. He sleeps like a baby every night. He doesn’t overthink things’.

“That is so crucial to approaching your racing with a clear, calm mind.”

Max Verstappen may have taken a damning stance on Lando Norris’ F1 title chances

When the former F2 champion first joined McLaren, Norris was stunned by Piastri’s speed in the fast corners. It predictably took the newcomer a while to become a complete package.

Across their first two seasons as a partnership, Norris outscored Piastri 579-389. But the dynamic has clearly shifted over the winter.

One could argue that Piastri has made the biggest leap of any driver. The gap is small, but he appears to be in control of the title race right now.

Indeed, David Coulthard reckons that Verstappen sees Piastri as his only title rival right now. If true, that’s a damning reflection on Norris, but the Briton’s camp will still believe he’s the quicker driver at his absolute best.