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If it weren't already a sweltering sauna in the Marina Bay circuit, the growing pressure of this year's F1 title fight would be sufficient to make even the toughest driver wilt. Withstanding the stress may prove the difference between the team's Norris and Piastri as the championship contest ratchets up with each grand prix.

This Title Fight Remains Finely Poised

Starting with this weekend's meeting in Marina Bay, seven grands prix are left and the title race is extremely tight. The Australian is ahead of his teammate by twenty-five points. Each are allowed to compete each other and with Max Verstappen still a significant sixty-nine in arrears, it is a head-to-head contest, with little to choose the two McLaren drivers.

Learning from Previous Champions

Formula One's most seasoned and successful competitors know this scenario very clearly. In 2007, when Lewis Hamilton just failed to win securing the championship in the final race at Brazil in his debut season, it taught him the unique challenge of a title tilt.

“I recall the buildup to those races at the end and the pressure was there,” he stated. “That was not needed. If I knew then what I understand today, I would have comfortably secured that title, I think. I've realized not to add stress that’s unneeded.”

Welcome the Pressure Cooker

Welcome then, Norris and Piastri, to the cauldron. The upper hand thus far has swung between them. Lando has five victories to Piastri's seven and the pair have scarcely missed the top three in a McLaren car that has been the best on the grid. Piastri has been more consistent, with his teammate finding it hard to adapt to a lack of feel for grip from the front tires. Nonetheless, they have excelled, the gap between them often just which could deliver perfectly, across qualifying and the race.

Expensive Mistakes for Lando

In this regard Norris has been lacking, small errors were damaging in China, more so after a poor qualifying in Sakhir and worse still when losing the points advantage after crashing out in the qualifying session in Jeddah. Then, most critically, over-eager in Montreal he hit his partner and went out, an enormous blow.

Oscar's Steadiness and Small Errors

The young driver, notably in only his third season in F1, has been more comfortable. For a while spinning out at the season opener in the rain in Melbourne was his sole error and one which was forgivable in the sudden rain. Subsequently, the Melbourne native was also overtaken and surpassed by an opportunistic Max at Emilia-Romagna, while his misjudgment and penalty for “unpredictable slowing” under the safety car at Silverstone cost him a probable victory.

Recent Difficulties in Baku

However, these were minor hiccups against a major incident at the previous race in Baku. In Baku, the McLaren driver hit the wall in qualifying leaving him in ninth position, only to follow it with a jump start, the car going into anti-stall mode and dropping him to the rear of the pack.

Trying to gain places on the first lap, he misread the traction and ended in the barriers, an unusual series of errors that he admitted he could ill afford in this weekend's race.

“Baku was quite a good reminder of how quickly things can turn around,” he commented. “There's some lessons about how I can deal with that better and insights on taking chances I suppose is the most accurate description to describe it. There's nothing revolutionary that needs to be altered or that I am going to change.”

Gaining from Past Examples

The pair are, for all their ability, still honing their abilities in F1, a path well trodden by other drivers on the starting lineup. The opening years of Lewis's career were outstanding, but he also made his share of mistakes. The McLaren driver could take note of Sakhir in 2008, the year the multiple title winner won his first title but which was characterized by additional errors as he was engaged in an intense fight with Felipe Massa.

On the starting grid in Bahrain he had failed to correctly set the launch control on his car and it entered anti-stall, dropping him down the grid. Shortly afterwards, trying to regain places, he clipped the rear of Fernando Alonso's Renault and had to make a stop with a damaged front wing. He came thirteenth after a grand prix he called as “a catastrophe”.

Verstappen's Initial Development

In the same way Verstappen's early career were marked by errors as he learned his craft. After a expensive incident in Monaco in 2018 then team principal Christian Horner openly called for his racer to demonstrate more discipline.

Verstappen, too, accepted the advice, the waywardness all but gone when he started claiming titles. “This has just been a learning experience,” he remarked at the moment. “In my career there have been times of personal growth and this was another step. Occasionally, it is unpleasant but at times you require it.”

Final Thoughts

Norris and Piastri are not up with the multiple champions so far but they are facing the same pressure and learning the same lessons. As the legendary driver noted, the first title is always the hardest. Securing this one out is the biggest challenge of their careers and will probably be decided by the driver who can most effectively manage the heat.