Oscar Piastri feels he took a significant step forward in 2025 by becoming a real contender for the drivers’ title, but the McLaren star admits there are still areas he needs to work on heading into the new season.
Building off what he’d learned in his first two years, Piastri put himself right in the thick of last year’s title fight. He even led the championship standings for 189 days – longer than anyone else – but saw a 34-point lead slip away late in the campaign.
After his win at Zandvoort, while Norris retired with an oil fitting issue, some even labelled him as champion-elect with nine races to go. But across those final rounds, Norris outscored him in five of seven weekends.
One moment that stood out was McLaren instructing Piastri to hand back second place to Norris at Monza, which many felt was a turning point. Later in Baku, mistakes followed when he crashed during both qualifying and the race – incidents he later linked to lingering frustration over those earlier team orders.
Oscar Piastri knows he’ll need to pair qualifying form with race pace in 2026
Piastri reflects positively on the 2025 season, recognising the growth he made in combining strong qualifying performances with race consistency. While he had typically excelled in one area more than the other during the previous two seasons, there were still periods where consistency escaped him.
Looking ahead, Piastri understands how important it will be to balance his pace across both Saturday and Sunday if he wants to stay at the front of the championship fight. That task becomes more complex this year as drivers and teams adjust to Formula 1’s sweeping new rules.
“The leap in quality I made last year was due to putting into practice the lessons learned in my first two years in Formula 1 with greater consistency,” Piastri told AutoMoto.it. “In 2023, when I was a rookie, I did better in qualifying than in the race. In 2024, it was the opposite.
“In 2025, I managed to be strong in both crucial areas of a weekend, in most cases. I will have to try to do the same this year, with very different cars.
“I know how to adapt efficiently. Now, I just need to identify what changes will affect me most next year.”
Oscar Piastri still searching for first qualifying win over Lando Norris in a grand prix season
While Norris held the upper hand over Piastri in qualifying through both the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, things tightened up considerably in 2025. Although Norris still edged the battle, Piastri narrowed the gap from previous records of 15-7 and 20-4 to a much closer 13-11.
Piastri also picked up his first F1 pole position in China during that season and finished with six poles overall – trailing only Max Verstappen (8) and Norris (7). He matched Norris with seven wins, just one behind Verstappen.
Piastri started last season strong, often pairing solid qualifying results with good race performances. But after his pole at the Dutch GP in round 15 of 24, he didn’t claim another until Qatar in round 23. During that stretch, Norris moved back into championship contention.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
