Going into the new Formula One season, so much attention was being placed on Lando Norris as the championship favorite. McLaren’s surge to last year’s constructors’ championship was spearheaded by Norris,

Piastri clinched back-to-back victories to move 10 points clear of his team-mate Lando Norris in the Formula One drivers' championship. However, Piastri's victory was aided by a five-second penalty that was dished out to reigning champion Max Verstappen, who left the track in a first-corner tussle with the Australian.

The Briton, who had finished fourth in Saudi Arabia, had said: “Red Bull are just as quick in qualifying. They're just as quick as us in the race. Just because we're quick in practice, people just keep coming up with all this this crap.