Piastri will line up third for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix, directly behind team-mate Norris who set the fastest time in qualifying.

Norris delivered a hammer blow time in the dying moments of the session to secure top spot, the McLaren pair split by Max Verstappen.

Piastri insists there are no team orders at play and he will be free to attack his team-mate throughout the race.

“The rules [of engagement] are very, very clear and haven’t changed,” Piastri explained.

“We’re free to race each other to try and win.

“Of course, we’re in a constructors’ championship fight and we know that there’s a lot at stake for the team, but we’ve shown time and time again that we can race each other well, race each other cleanly.

“We’re free to try and both win the race and that’s not changed.”

Norris echoed Piastri’s comments.

“We’re free to race,” he confirmed.

“There’s never been any rules apart from don’t crash into each other. That’s literally the only rule.”

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Overtaking in Zandvoort is difficult.

The old-school circuit, the first half of which is largely unchanged from when it was first built in the 1940s, is narrow and hemmed in by grass and gravel.

While there are two DRS zones, both are short; the first runs from the exit of Turn 10 into Turn 11, and the other on entry to the final corner and down the front straight.

“If I can get myself into the lead, then that works well for me,” Piastri said of his approach, specifically at the race start.

“The start is always a good opportunity to make up ground if you can.

“Obviously I want to finish as high as I can, and if I can get into second, then obviously that makes life a little bit more straightforward for the team.

“But… I mean, I’m not going to do anything specific to try and make that happen.

“I want to try and win the race myself. And let’s see what I can try and do.”

Pole sitter Norris has struggled at times to get his car off the line, a point the Brit is aware of.

“Starts have not been my forte over the last probably… They’ve not been bad, honestly,” he began.

“I’m still up there with being one of the best average starters, I’ve just missed out on a couple of races and maybe slightly worse than what it’s been over the course of a season.

“There’s a couple of times when they’ve not been quite where they need to be have been a couple of times I’ve been on the front row.

“They’ve not been for any certain reason,” he added.

“They’ve been different things each time but I feel confident I put in a good amount of work to try and make my starts a bit better.”

Norris sits second in the drivers’ championship to Verstappen, the pair split by 78 points with 10 races remaining.

Piastri is fourth in the standings, 32 points behind his team-mate.

McLaren meanwhile is just 42 in arrears of Red Bull Racing in the constructors’ championship, with that competition the team’s focus.