Why Piastri has steered clear of McLaren's suspension update

Only Lando Norris is using the suspension tweak McLaren introduced in Montreal

One of the more intriguing aspects of the ongoing battle between McLaren Formula 1 team mates Lando Norris is that since Canada they have been driving subtly different cars.

In Montreal Norris ran a front suspension update that Piastri has opted not to use on the basis that it doesn’t bring performance, and that in effect he doesn’t want to mess with a successful recipe.

What it does do in theory is give Norris some of the feel that he felt was missing earlier in the season, although even he admits that he can’t be sure how much difference it makes given that every track has its own quirks.

You could argue that his strong performance in Austria was evidence that it’s boosted his confidence – although one could speculate that there’s something of a Placebo Effect in action.

“It's even an answer I can't give to the team that clearly, if you ask me now, is it better or not?,” he said on Thursday.

“I can't give a definitive answer. It's something that we believe might shift things in the right direction. That's how small of a change it was. It wasn't like, we know this is going to help, it's going to do a better job.

“It's also not a performance item. It's not something that we've got and gone, now we're going to be quicker. It's something that might change how the feeling is to the steering and to the front suspension.

“But because you go track-to-track, it's not something you can necessarily just change between sessions. It's not where I can just go out and give a clean answer to the team.

“It's one where I’ve just got to have the confidence and belief in the guys and girls who have put it together and thought of it believe it's in the right direction to give me maybe some more feelings or a better feeling, or more of a contrast in feeling.

“And I'm happy enough that that's a good enough answer, that they think it's better, and I'm confident that it's going to give me that feeling, but it's not something I can go, ‘I'm feeling a lot more in the car.’

“I certainly felt more in Austria. Canada is a very separate one and the car is always all over the place in Canada, so it's hard to judge things there.

“But certainly in Canada, I felt like we unlocked a little bit more, but I also don't feel like I'm still back to the level necessarily that I was at last year with feeling, understanding, and things like that.”

Piastri meanwhile has preferred to stick with the original spec, and he has no interest in trying the new suspension.

“I've not used it ever yet,” said the Australian. “I think the thing is for me, it's not an upgrade, it's just something that is different. It makes some things potentially a bit better. It makes some things a bit worse.

“If it was just all benefits, I would be putting it on with no questions asked. But for me, I've not, not really struggled with that kind of particular feeling.

“The year's been going pretty well, so I'm keener to just keep the car consistent, and worry about how we get the most out of the setup and the other upgrades we actually have than this change to the suspension.”

As the drivers suggest, it’s a subtle difference, but nevertheless it’s an interesting twist to what will be a very closely fought contest over the second half of the season.

Norris had the upper hand in Austria, although his team mate didn’t get his final Q3 run in due to yellow flags, and thus started only third.

“I think it is a very tight battle,” said Piastri. “I think it will be for the rest of the year. I think Canada I don't was the best Sunday for me, definitely, in terms of pace, but I think last weekend was probably one of the better ones.

“I think qualifying ultimately, we'll never know what was possible. But my first lap of Q3 or the only lap of Q3 was not great, even compared to some of my Q2 laps.

“So I think last weekend, I was happy with my pace, especially on Sunday. But I expect it to ebb and flow through the year. I think the weekends where either of us put our absolute best forward, it's probably enough either of us to win.

“It's just that doing that and finding 100% of your potential instead of 99 or 99 and a half is very, very difficult.

“So I think that's been the difference so far this year. I think we're very, very evenly matched. And on our good days, either of us is very hard to beat.”