Lando Norris has come under criticism for his team radio communications with McLaren following the Qatar Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen once again took maximum points from Sunday's Grand Prix after McLaren suffered a major strategy blunder in the early exchanges.
Race leader Piastri and championship leader Norris were the only two cars not to fit new tires following an early safety car, putting them a pitstop behind the rest of the field at the restart.
Piastri managed to recover to second place after a solid drive, however, Martin Brundle described the Aussie as a 'broken' man after seeing victory slip away.
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Norris meanwhile came home in fourth after a Kimi Antonelli mistake on the penultimate lap handed the Brit a vital two point swing in the championship.
The result means as long as Norris finishes on the podium in Abu Dhabi, he will secure his first driver's championship ahead of his rivals.
Despite an extremely impressive resurgence in the final stages of the season, there are still questions over Norris' credibility as an F1 champion.
Norris team radio demonstrates his weakness
Both McLaren drivers have left serious points on the table this season, with Verstappen claiming he is only still in the fight due to their 'failures'.
During the race one of Norris' radio messages caught the attention of fans, with many claiming it proves he still needs to prove his worth as a champion.
The Brit's engineer Will Joseph came over radio to warn Norris he was failing to follow driving instructions, "You [Lando] have gone back to what you were doing before."
The 26-year-old quickly responded: "Yeah I'm trying... I just... I need more help then because I can't do it."
One fan wrote: "This will be his legacy btw"
"If he becomes world champion, I'm embarrassed for this sport," another added.
A third replied: "He gets coached every race. Just look st the radio transcripts. It’s crazy! Funny actually."
"There's only one deserving winner of this championship from the current 3 contenders, and it's pretty obvious," a fourth claimed.
However, some fans jumped to the defence of Norris, arguing the broadcast just doesn't show other driver's making similar complaints over radio.
"Totally normal btw, F1 just chooses to broadcast Lando’s messages more often," they wrote.
Norris will be used to having is critics, and has even faced boos on the podium this season.
While Norris himself will be the first to say he hasn't had the perfect season, if it wasn't for an unfortunate DNF at the Dutch GP, the McLaren star would already have the title wrapped up.
With that in mind, it would be hard to argue the Brit wouldn't be a worthy champion if he gets over the line in Yas Marina.
Tom Jenkins