Hill fears ‘consequences’ of Oscar Piastri defeat lost on Lando Norris

Lando Norris is battling McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri over the F1 2025 Drivers’ Championship, but Damon Hill is not sure Norris understands the “consequences” of defeat.

The title fight has perhaps morphed into a two-horse race between the McLarens after a DNF for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Austria, but with Piastri leading the way, Hill warns Norris he cannot be “beaten” by Piastri. Yet, he is not sure Norris really gets that.

Lando Norris versus Oscar Piastri: ‘Consequences’ of defeat lost on Norris?

Eleven rounds of the F1 2025 season are complete and McLaren are strengthening their chase of the title double. Piastri leads Norris by 15 points at the top of the Championship, while Verstappen in P3 has fallen 61 points off the lead.

Norris clawed back crucial ground with an impressive win in Austria, seeing off multiple attacks from Piastri, while Verstappen saw his hopes of a fifth straight title take a major blow as he was punted into retirement by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

In the Constructors’ meanwhile, McLaren has built what appears to be an unassailable lead, their buffer over P2 Ferrari 207 points.

Damon Hill knows all about reaching the F1 summit, having become World Champion in 1996, and he is intrigued by Piastri, who is looking to become the 35th driver to earn World Champion status.

“Oscar Piastri is interesting,” Hill told The Guardian. “He has a calmness and confidence in himself that’s not overstated.”

While Piastri has a title rival in Norris who has the tools required, it is the Brit’s mentality which Hill points out as a concern for him.

Should Piastri be the McLaren driver to bask in World Championship glory this year, Hill is not convinced that Norris understands the repercussions.

“Lando is very talented,” Hill notes. “He’s gifted and smart.

“But I don’t sense he’s concerned enough that he might lose it. I would be worried he’s going to come off second-best to Oscar. I don’t know if he realises the consequences. You just can’t be beaten.”

F1 2025 head-to-head standings after the Austrian GP

? F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates

? F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Norris made an important statement against critics with his cool-headed and controlled drive to Austrian GP victory, showing that he can deliver when the pressure truly ramps up.

Winning from pole position – which he claimed in dominant fashion – Norris had declared over team radio that the “old me” returned in that triumph.

And reflecting on his race win, Norris said: “There was plenty of fun along the way.

“Some close moments, some good battles; just a lot of laps of looking in my mirrors out of Turn 1 and all the way down to Turn 3.

“Stressful for sure, not like the most comfortable position to be in, but [it] was a good battle between us and doing quite a long race from that point onwards because I never had a lovely gap, and Oscar kept coming at me the next two stints.

“Good fun, but a tricky race — but well managed.

“The first stint was difficult just because I couldn’t get my battery up and it was a quite strategic part of the race, and I just was always vulnerable for those reasons.

“But as soon as I did the pit stop, I could get the battery back up for the first time, and then I could be a little bit more comfortable.

“I think I just had a clean weekend,” he said.

“It’s not that I’ve not been able to do it before. The pace has always been there at certain points.

“It’s just, yeah, there’s been some reasons for different things, but certainly coming in today and yesterday to do the job that I did, I’m pretty happy.

“But it doesn’t come easily. It doesn’t come just because I’ve turned up this weekend, and just, things are better.

“I’m working a lot than I used to away from the track with the team, on the simulator, with my own team, on trying to improve everything that I can.

“And I think it’s more a positive thing to see a lot of those things paying off immediately.

“Good step in the right direction. Still need more, still want more, so we’ll keep working.”

Norris declared that the win in Austria “gives me good confidence”, adding: “I don’t need to prove any points or prove anything to anyone, honestly; I like to prove things to myself probably more than anything.”

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