He sits atop the standings with a sixteen-point lead over Lando Norris and is seriously in the hunt for the world title. The first six races of 2025 have revealed much about the “2.0” version of Oscar Piastri who, while benefitting from a car that has so far proven to be the benchmark on the grid, has made a clear step forward compared to last season.
Just twelve months ago, after six races—due in part to some misfortune and a couple of underwhelming weekends—the Australian found himself sixth in the standings and, more crucially, with less than half the points of teammate Norris. Now, he leads the championship.
Undoubtedly, the Miami DNF—where Norris triumphed by capitalizing on a Safety Car—had an impact on the standings. However, the two preceding races in Japan and China were among Piastri’s most disappointing outings in 2024, exposing critical areas for improvement such as qualifying and race pace. These are precisely the areas where experience plays a key role.
Time flies, and Piastri already looks like a seasoned driver, but it’s worth remembering that 2025 is only his third season in Formula 1. In Bahrain, he celebrated his 50th Grand Prix start. Before the season began, Piastri had admitted he still needed to improve in certain areas if he truly wanted to fight for the title.
“The biggest issue was leaving too many positions on the table in qualifying. I don’t think I’ve ever made life easy for myself in that regard. That’s the key point of the season: trying to extract those last few tenths or hundredths,” Piastri said at the end of last year.
Crucial improvements in qualifying
Single-lap pace was one area that required improvement, and the progress has been evident so far. This aspect can’t be overlooked because in a season that could evolve into an internal team battle, starting ahead not only brings a direct competitive advantage but also more flexibility in race strategy.
Excluding sprint races, Piastri has only started off the front row twice, with fourth as his worst starting position so far this season. Norris, by contrast, has started outside the front row three times, including once due to a crash in Jeddah. While the Brit arguably still holds a slight edge in raw pace, Piastri’s consistency is making the difference.
The numbers speak for themselves, as the previous table showed: after six GPs in 2024, Norris had an average qualifying gap of nearly a tenth and a half over Oscar Piastri. This year, however, the data shows a seven-hundredths advantage for the Australian. Even excluding Bahrain—where Lando Norris struggled to find the right feeling with the car—the comparison evens out, with just a one-hundredth difference, still far smaller than twelve months ago.
“I think the hard work we’ve done is really making a difference. I feel more comfortable in qualifying and I feel I’ve taken a step forward. Sure, I’ve still had a couple of sessions where I lost pole by a few hundredths, but I’ve also had more strong qualifying performances, so there’s been a big effort on many fronts to find those last tenths. I think it’s paying off and making a difference,” said Oscar Piastri.
“There are still things we’re trying to sort out as a team with the car we have. It’s clearly very fast, but it’s not always easy to get the most out of it.”
The MCL39 hasn’t been the easiest car to extract peak qualifying performance from, and both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have made errors in key moments, so consistency has become the Australian’s greatest asset. Still, improvements over one lap haven’t been the only key topic early in the season, as confirmed by Andrea Stella, who emphasized the progress made in race pace.
Race pace progress not only due to the car
Piastri has shown a much stronger approach in managing race pace compared to last year. Without a doubt, having the benchmark car on the grid helps, offering greater flexibility—but even compared to Norris, a clear improvement has been seen. Though the Brit still holds an edge in experience, as seen in his many comeback drives this year, Oscar Piastri is closing the gap.
Andrea Stella believes that Oscar Piastri, now in his third season, is finally grasping how to handle tyre demands throughout a stint, refining his tyre management skills.
“Looking at how Oscar is currently managing tyre degradation, there’s no way that improvement comes only from the car. The only way to get the most out of the upgrades we’ve made is for the driver to understand how to manage both the tyres and the car,” said the McLaren team principal in Miami.
“This hasn’t happened by accident, or just because Oscar now has more experience—it’s the result of hard work from the engineers to understand his driving style, how it impacts the tyres, and how to avoid causing damage.”
“It’s very different whether you have graining on the front or rear, overheating on the front or rear. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution that will help manage tyres for an entire season. There are multiple approaches and you need to know how to adjust. I think that speaks volumes about the quality of work done by Oscar and the team around him.”
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