Zak Brown shares what he privately ‘reminded’ Oscar Piastri after losing out to Lando Norris at the Monaco Grand Prix

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is quickly learning how fine the margins are if he wants to become a Formula 1 world champion.

At the last race at Imola, Piastri admitted making a mistake by letting Max Verstappen overtake him into the first corner of the race when he appeared to have the Red Bull driver covered off.

That threw off his strategy, forcing him to pit earlier than he would have liked and he then lost out to teammate Lando Norris during a safety car period that cost him points to his closest rivals in the drivers’ championship.

The Monaco Grand Prix was a chance for Oscar Piastri to recover but as expected, the race was defined by what happened in qualifying.

Ferrari’s impressive resurgence in Monaco caught everyone off-guard and Charles Leclerc drove brilliantly to start on the front row of the grid.

He was demoted to third, with Lando Norris setting the lap record in Monte Carlo to take a critical pole position.

The race didn’t quite play out as expected, with Martin Brundle calling out some below-par racing tactics that saw drivers deliberately slowing down their rivals to a ridiculous degree to help their teammates.

However, the end result was as expected, with the first four drivers all finishing in the order they started.

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Zak Brown offers Oscar Piastri advice after Monaco Grand Prix podium

McLaren CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella have a good problem on their hands right now.

They’ve more than doubled their nearest rivals’ points tally after just eight races and their two drivers are the favourites to secure the other championship.

Brown was asked on Sky Sports F1 (25/5 4:13 pm) how it feels inside the McLaren camp right now after Norris closed the gap on Piastri in the drivers’ championship to three points and he replied: “Pretty cool.

“I reminded Oscar, hey, I know you’re bummed you finished third, but you’re still leading the drivers’ championship.

“So, it’s going to get fun the second half of the year but we’re up for it and I’m excited to see them race.”

Piastri wasn’t happy with Verstappen in the cooldown room when he watched a replay of the Dutchman trying to overtake him immediately after some double-waved yellow flags.

It showed a side to him that rarely comes out, but is very much needed if the Australian is going to become a world champion.

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Zak Brown provides details on the change in Lando Norris after perfect Monaco Grand Prix weekend

It was then put to Brown that there was a change in demeanour in Norris after earning his pole position, with it suggested that the McLaren CEO was more excited than his driver.

Asked whether he’s adjusted anything for Norris this season, he continued: “Obviously, he’s had a few Q3 struggles and to get it done in Q3 and at Monte Carlo is awesome.

“So, I think he’s just very focused. He knows that he’s got a big chance at the championship and maybe he just lets me do the exciting part.

Brown was then asked what Norris has specifically done to improve his mindset going into sessions like qualifying at Monaco, and explained: “Just not worry about if you don’t get in the perfect lap, do the best you can and give it another go and so that’s exactly what happened.

“We went out and we got two laps in with both of our guys, and the first one was really good but wasn’t good enough and the second time, he got it done.”