Norris, following his dominant Mexico GP win, and Piastri’s lacklustre P5 result, triggered a championship lead swap with the British driver eeking out a 1 point gap over his Australian teammate.

During the race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Norris was asked by the McLaren pit wall regarding what tyre he recommended between the medium and the soft compounds in a bid to help the other side of the garage, i.e., title rival Piastri, a request Palmer slammed as ‘a bit stupid’ on the F1 Nation podcast.

He said: “He said softs? I would have said, ‘Oh this medium feels glorious!’ I guarantee you Lando thought about that in the moment. Why would you help him out?

Norris' honesty, Palmer believes, is what prevented the British driver from issuing a different type of response. Assessing McLaren's question as "a bit stupid," the F1TV analyst claimed Norris ultimately "doesn't want the best for Oscar."

Palmer argues many of the drivers on the grid would not have replied sincerely, suggesting Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso would've been one of them. However, the former Renault driver couldn't but highlight the intrateam harmony McLaren have been very careful to maintain.

“I would say most of the champions on that grid… imagine Aston Martin asking Fernando Alonso!,” Palmer concluded.

Offering an entirely different view of McLaren team Principal Andrea Stella's reasoning as to why Piastri has been struggling as of laet, Palmer recently referenced the gap Norris held over the Aussie driver in Mexico.

The F1TV analyst said it was the biggest teammate deficit in the field, arguing Piastri’s fifth place was a "salvage" aided by Lewis Hamilton’s penalty and Kimi Antonelli’s slow stop, noting he still finished behind Ollie Bearman on merit. You can read his full statements here.

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