Did 2025 come too soon for Oscar Piastri?
Oscar Piastri congratulates Lando Norris on the grid at the end of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Oscar Piastri led McLaren teammate Lando Norris by 34 points after the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
Yet Zandvoort proved to be the last victory of the season for Piastri, who ultimately finished 13 points behind Norris and slipped behind Max Verstappen for good measure. Where did it all go wrong? Even in defeat, there are reasons for hope…
Oscar Piastri should bounce back from Lando Norris title defeat
A version of this article originally appeared in PlanetF1.com’s conclusions from the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Did the 2025 title fight come a little too soon in Oscar Piastri’s development as a Formula 1 driver?
Was he promoted into a slightly false position this season given the extent of McLaren’s dominance and Norris’s struggles – both emotionally and with the feel of the MCL39 car – in the first half of 2025?
These thoughts have nagged over recent months as Piastri slid from being the overwhelming favourite for the championship after Zandvoort – his 34-point advantage after that race was the biggest lead enjoyed by any driver all season – to the clear outsider in a three-way fight in Abu Dhabi.
Mark Webber, Piastri’s manager, seemed to hint at it in Brazil last month, acknowledging that it is “pretty unprecedented” for a driver in just his third season to find himself competing for the biggest prize the sport has to offer.
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The pattern of this season – Norris’s greater experience and comfort within McLaren (team and car) showing as the year developed, especially after his front-suspension upgrade in Canada unlocked his feel for the front end – suggests Piastri was never quite as equipped for this battle as he sometimes made it look.
As noted in PlanetF1.com’s conclusions from the Qatar Grand Prix, as the weeks have passed it has become apparent that Piastri’s late-season dip came in two distinct phases: psychological and technical.
First came his error-ridden and bad-tempered performances in Baku and Singapore respectively, where the resentment of being forced to give points to Norris at Monza – the first time in his career that Piastri consciously showed weakness – manifested itself in his driving.
After that came the rounds between Austin and Vegas, which highlighted the lingering flaws in Piastri’s technique and his heavily data-led approach to beating Norris.
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Recent history indicates that it takes time for drivers to recover from the disappointment of defeat in the world championship after leading the standings for a large chunk of the season.
Webber himself, for instance, did not win again until the last round of the following year after missing out on the title to Sebastian Vettel at the final race of 2010.
And as much as he is remembered for his resilience against Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, Nico Rosberg seemed to spend most of 2015 recovering from his defeat the previous year, only really returning to full charge as 2016 hovered into view.
In that context, it feels potentially significant that Piastri has managed to recover his poise before the end of 2025.
As with Verstappen’s performance in Brazil, there was something inescapably noble about Piastri going down fighting in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, where there were glimpses again of the driver who made the new world champion so unsure of himself at points this season.
Missing out on the title, having led the way for so long, will hurt, but the shoots of recovery have already appeared.
That’s how you know Piastri will be just fine.
His time will come.
Reader reaction: Reflections on Oscar Piastri’s F1 2025 season
Sam: There is a slight bitter taste to this WDC for me. Lando is a good driver, to get into a top car and stay there for 5 seasons isn’t because everyone else forgot to sack him.
Yes Max could look at Barcelona with regret, but McLaren pulling Oscar back to let Norris back into the game at Monza doesn’t really leave a good taste in the mouth, both drivers had a bloody good shot at the crown, and to manufacture it so that only one of them is allowed that shot takes the shine off.
Norris taking 5 full years to get near the title reflects for me. Piastri, yes maybe he would have gone off the boil after the European season anyway, but it does look strongly after Monza that McLaren turned his heat down significantly.
For me Piastri is a better overall driver, in the same way that Max took a few years to temper that naive arrogance maybe next year’s the year Oscar works out his foibles and flexes his muscles properly, we will see, but this year feels like McLaren were
at their limits to get Norris a cup, all this hyperbole about a Hollywood season doesn’t wash for me 21 was a far better season for drama.
TriumphKen (in reply to Sam): The McLaren was only a front runner for about a season and a half, both Oscar and Lando got the car when it was capable of regular wins. Lando stuck with the team through the tough times and fully deserves his victory.
Fire Storm: I am very curious to see the development of Norris and Piastri in the upcoming season/s.
The aura of the world champion should help Lando’s confidence. As for Oscar, he knows that he is more efficient and clinical than his champion teammate as long as he gets his act together.
For now I believe Lando will be that kind of a one off champion, like Hill, Villeneuve, Raikkonen or Button. The stars aligned for him and he delivered, albeit he merely did it.
He never projected the strength of the other champions on the current grid. Fernando, Lewis and Max have been real beasts.
As for Oscar, I believe he has learned a lot this year. Likewise Raikkonen and Hamilton before him, he will find out that McLaren isn’t the best place.
If he continues to be strong, somebody else will hire him and he can shine again.
Alan: If we’re being honest neither Oscar nor Lando managed to consistently get the most out of having the best car on the grid.
Don’t get me wrong they both put in some great performances during the season but they also had a number of off weekends as well, Lando early on in the season and Oscar towards the end.
Both championships are well deserved on account of the team producing such a versatile car capable of performing across a wide range of tracks but i dare say had Max, Charles or George been in that car the drivers championship would have been sealed long before Abu Dhabi.
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