Oscar Piastri has a chance to become the first driver ever to win titles in Formula 1, F2, and F3 if he can hold onto his eight-point lead over Lando Norris this year.
Since the series were rebranded from GP2 and GP3 to F2 and F3 in 2017 and 2019, no one has pulled off the hat-trick. None of the former GP3 champions have gone on to win an F1 title, though both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg claimed titles in both F1 and GP2.
Piastri, who won his 2020 F3 and 2021 F2 championships as a rookie, could be about to make history by adding an F1 crown to that list. The McLaren driver currently leads Norris by eight points after 12 rounds of the season.
If Piastri holds onto his lead through to the end of the season, he’ll become just the latest of many champions who were ahead at this stage. Only nine drivers have failed to convert a mid-season lead into a title since then. Hamilton was one of them back in 2021.
Oscar Piastri lacks the personality Lando Norris has, who would be a more popular F1 champion
Tom Coronel believes that Piastri is not the driver fans want to see win the title this year. The Dutchman says people would rather see Norris become champion, saying Piastri doesn’t have the right personality and would be a ‘silent’ winner if he pulls it off.
Piastri took an eight-point lead into round 13 of 24 at the French Grand Prix despite Norris winning four races to his two. But only one of Piastri’s wins came due to penalties given to other drivers, including one for Norris at the Miami Grand Prix. It’s led some fans to question if he’d be a worthy champion.
Coronel thinks Norris should win it all this year but admits that Piastri could come out on top by taking advantage of his teammate’s mistakes. The Briton has already made several errors this season, including crashing into Piastri and retiring from the Canadian Grand Prix as a result.
“With his experience and everything that comes with it, he should be the one,” Coronel told RacingNews365. “But Piastri could still be the smartest by simply waiting for Lando’s mistakes and capitalising on them. And then, on average, at the end of the year he’ll have a few more points, and then he’ll become one of those silent champions.”
Norris is trailing in points because of those mistakes but Coronel respects that he tries to make things happen on track compared to Piastri. According to Coronel, even if Piastri wins this season, fans aren’t as excited about him being champion.
“At least he tries,” Coronel continued. “Piastri doesn’t. He waits, waits and waits… He’ll be a quiet world champion, one we won’t hear from or see. He’s not disruptive, but he does his job, is smart and he’s fast.
Norris’ mistakes could cost him back-to-back F1 championships
Norris responded well after colliding with Piastri in Canada by taking pole position and winning the next race in Austria. He then cut Piastri’s lead to eight points with another win at Silverstone, where the Australian picked up a time penalty.
But Norris could still lose two title races in a row if his mistakes continue. Last season, he finished second behind Max Verstappen after dropping valuable points throughout the year, though McLaren errors also played a role.
If Norris falls short again this year, he may have only himself to blame. After round one, he held a 23-point lead while Piastri recovered from a spin to finish ninth. But within four races and an F1 Sprint, Piastri had overtaken him by 10 points.
Piastri won three of the next four races following Australia. Meanwhile, Norris described himself as ‘clueless’ after qualifying sixth in Bahrain and called himself an ‘idiot’ for crashing during Q3 in Saudi Arabia while trying to match Piastri’s pace through Turn 4.
The qualifying issues didn’t stop there. Damon Hill questioned Norris after another Q3 mistake in Canada, asking: ‘What are you doing?’ Norris even admitted to making too many errors during qualifying and said he made a fool of himself by hitting Piastri.
Even at Silverstone, where he benefited from Piastri’s penalty, another qualifying slip could have cost him more ground. While McLaren had Norris start third on the grid for the British Grand Prix, it was Piastri who lined up ahead of him in second place despite making a small error at Turn 3.
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