F1, McLaren | Lando Norris must not repeat Piastri’s mistake: Oscar is still in the title fight. McLaren’s Lando Norris leads Oscar Piastri by 24 points in the final phase.

The battle for the Formula 1 world championship is entering its final act, and the spotlight is now fixed on the internal McLaren duel between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The two teammates are separated by 24 points with only three races and one Sprint Race remaining, with the British driver ahead thanks to a level of consistency that the Australian has struggled to match.

McLaren, Lando’s golden moment

The psychological momentum is completely on Lando’s side. Piastri, after an opening phase in which he was objectively faster, has fallen into a series of mistakes since Baku that dragged him into a difficult cycle to break. The young Australian is trying to get out of it, but managing delicate situations has proved more complex than expected. The experience of the British driver, at least for now, is making the difference.

Adding to the picture is the analysis by former Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who highlighted Norris’s impressive recovery: “Considering where he started — he was more than 30 points behind — and now he is 24 points ahead. If he keeps going like this, he could wrap up the championship before Abu Dhabi. Max Verstappen is technically still in the game, but it’s difficult for him to catch the two papaya cars.”

Montoya then added: “If Lando beats Oscar again in Las Vegas and Qatar, he could already settle everything before the final race.” He also commented on the decisive moment of the Interlagos weekend: “The Briton has always lacked something in Q3, and when he messed up the first run in Brazil, I thought, ‘Here we go again.’ Instead, he pulled out a fantastic second lap, even while staying cautious in the first sector.”

He knew he had more pace than Piastri. Oscar was coming from a Sprint retirement and probably just wanted to bring the car home, while Lando lifted himself up and his confidence grew massively.” Despite all this, Montoya warns the 2025 championship leader not to consider the job done. After all, anything can still happen.

“The danger is becoming complacent, exactly as happened to Oscar Piastri when he was the one with the advantage. Norris must keep his focus high. Realistically, Lando could even finish behind Oscar in every remaining race and still win the title, but right now Piastri doesn’t have enough speed.”

Piastri has revealed weaknesses

The Colombian also underlined the importance of race management: “When Norris found himself in second place after the contact between Antonelli and Leclerc, he pulled away from Oscar by seven or eight seconds,” he said. To him, this was a sign of maturity and control, revealing which of the two papaya drivers is currently handling the pressure better. The next three races will show whether this balance holds until the very end.

Norris is undoubtedly experiencing his strongest period in a season that has been anything but simple. Winning an internal team battle is every driver’s dream, especially when the world championship is at stake. Montoya’s analysis is based on facts, but it is important to point out that Oscar has been significantly faster than his teammate for much of the season.

From Melbourne onwards — when the team instructed the Australian not to attack Lando while they were running first and second — Piastri has mostly been the stronger of the two. The Monza situation, designed to favour Norris (right or wrong, that is how it played out), certainly affected the confidence of car number 81 in the team. From that moment onward, he made a series of mistakes he had never made before.

Oscar still faster overall

Oscar Piastri has indeed been a bit naïve in certain situations — this is undeniable — but he has not been placed in the best possible conditions by the team. It is worth remembering that he is a third-year Formula 1 driver, whereas Lando Norris is in his seventh year in the sport, meaning he has four full seasons more experience. This experience gap can play for or against either of them depending on the situation.

For Oscar, things have become complicated, but the situation is far from impossible to recover. It is enough to think of how many times Lando has found himself in favourable conditions only to ruin it at the decisive moment. Twenty-four points across three races plus a Sprint Race are not unmanageable, especially for the driver who, on paper, remains the faster one — regardless of the mental and team dynamics currently at play.