The 24-year-old arrives in Baku leading the drivers’ championship after a controversial Italian Grand Prix in which he was told to let Norris reclaim second following a slow pit stop.

The call, made after McLaren opted to pit Piastri first to protect him from Charles Leclerc, triggered heavy fan backlash – but Piastri said the final order matched the reality of his weekend.

“Ultimately, the biggest thing for me from Monza was it was a weekend where I deserved to finish third,” Piastri said.

“I didn’t deserve to finish second because of the pace I had. I was quick at certain points, but not quick enough the whole weekend.”

Piastri admitted he initially questioned the instruction over the radio, reminding the team that “slow pit stops” are part of racing, but after post-race talks he accepted there was more to the call than a single delay.

“There was another factor outside of the slow pit stop, being the order we pitted in, that was a contributing factor to why we swapped,” he explained.

“That one I’m quite happy to talk about, because it’s happened. But any other scenarios, you can’t plan for every single one.”

The Monza fallout prompted McLaren to sit down with both drivers and agree on how to handle similar situations as the title fight intensifies.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions, clarified a lot of things, and we know how we’re going to go racing going forward, which is the most important thing,” Piastri said.

“What’s happened is done, and I’m excited to go racing here.”

Piastri also revealed that his manager Mark Webber, who famously endured team-order controversies during his Red Bull days alongside Sebastian Vettel, had little to add beyond agreement.

“Mark is very much on the same page with that,” Piastri said.

“Again, I’ve discussed with the team and with Mark about what happened, and we’re all aligned going forward.”

Despite the uproar, Piastri believes McLaren’s approach still gives both drivers freedom to fight for the championship.

“I do think we have enough freedom to control our own destiny in the championship,” he said.

“There’s no right answer to that decision. If we had done the opposite thing, then you’d have the opposite half of the fans saying that it was wrong.”

Norris echoed those sentiments, stressing that the team’s internal talks leave no room for confusion.

“It’s something we all spoke about as a team, we all have a very good understanding of, and all accept it,” he said.

“We’ll continue working the way we want, and that’s what we need to do.”

McLaren can clinch the constructors’ championship in Baku with seven races to spare if one driver wins and the other finishes on the podium, clearing the way for a straight shootout between Piastri and Norris for the drivers’ crown.

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