Piastri Vows Unchanged Racing Style Despite F1 Title Lead, Monza Focus Remains on Victory

MONZA, Italy -- Formula 1 title leader Oscar Piastri insisted he will not change his approach to racing despite holding a comfortable lead, saying it's too early to be "settling for positions that aren't first."

Piastri's stellar Dutch Grand Prix win, coupled with McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris' late race retirement, moved him 34 points clear with nine races left to run.

Only two drivers -- Fernando Alonso in 2012 and Charles Leclerc in 2022 -- have had a lead that big under the current points system and failed to win the title.

When told that stat and asked if his racing approach would change, he laughed.

"Honestly, very little," he said, speaking ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. "I didn't know that stuff, but thank you.

"I've had one of my own championships ... I've had a much bigger gap than this and had it pretty much erased before the final round. So I've got personal experience of this not being a comfortable gap.

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"But yeah, it's still far too early to be calculating and settling for positions that aren't first. So for me, the approach is still exactly the same. Yeah, that won't change until the gap is pretty significantly bigger, or the amount of races is significantly smaller." The Australian said it would be unnatural for him to race differently than he has for the rest of the season.

"The risk attitude, five races ago, [I] didn't know the championship picture was going to look like this. And if you took a different amount of risk either way, then the gap is going to be potentially smaller than what it is, could potentially be bigger. But I like to think that my approach to risk is pretty measured.

"So for me, that doesn't really change regardless of the championship situation."

Speaking after the Zandvoort retirement, Norris said he could now race with nothing to lose in a bid to catch his teammate.

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When asked if he should expect a more aggressive Norris from now on, Piastri said: "I don't think so. I don't think much will change. He's certainly not out of the fight.

"Yes, it's a bit more difficult now, but I don't expect much to change. I think we'll race each other the same way. I think the amount of risk-taking will be the same.

"We're both trying to drive as fast as we can. It's not like we'll be holding anything back from that side of things. So I don't think we'll be able to change."