Oscar Piastri has spoken out about former Formula 1 champion Alan Jones’ claim that Lando Norris is “mentally weak.”

The current championship leader stated that all drivers experience similar emotions — but they all cope with them differently in the public sphere.

Oscar Piastri hits back against Norris “mentally weak” claim

Heading into the Miami Grand Prix, current championship leader Oscar Piastri was asked to respond to the claims of his countryman that his teammate is “mentally weak.”

Speaking to The Back Page on Fox Sports, 1980 Formula 1 champion Alan Jones had some choice words about Norris’ mental approach to his racing.

While he noted that there’s “no doubt” Norris is quick, there’s more to performance than just speed.

“Mentally, I think he’s quite a weak person,” Jones confessed.

“He’s coming out with all this nonsense that he’s got a bit of a mental thing, he’s dwelling on some of the problems he’s had rather than the positives.

“When they start talking all that nonsense, you know you’ve got them.”

By contrast, Jones praised Piastri as having “an old head on young shoulders,” which makes him capable of blowing Norris out of the water.

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Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri was asked about Jones’ comments, and if he felt his approach to racing allowed him to be more competitve.

“For me, the most important thing is to try and do things in the style that’s most natural to you,” Piastri told media, including PlanetF1.com, in the build-up to the Miami Grand Prix.

“When you start trying to do things that aren’t your natural way of being a person, that’s when things become confusing. That’s when things start to go wrong.

“So I think everyone handles that differently. I think Lando handles that quite differently to how I handle it.”

That being said, Piastri was also clear that difficult emotions are normal — drivers just differ on how they handle those emotions in the public.

He continued, “But I think probably a lot of the emotions across the grid that happen, regardless of whether they’re in the public or not, are probably pretty similar.

“I think that’s just kind of how we’re wired as people, as competitors.

“But obviously there’s different emotions and different ways of dealing with that. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way. I think it’s very individual to the person.

“I think, again, I’m quite different probably at the other end of the spectrum. But again, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way of dealing with it.

“Because that’s what you feel is the best way of either venting or trying to reset yourself.

“Lando knows himself much better than I and probably all of us do.”

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