{"id":518754,"date":"2025-10-22T04:41:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T04:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/518754\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T04:41:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T04:41:13","slug":"oscar-piastri-title-lead-drivers-championship-analysis-why-its-not-time-for-aussie-mclaren-driver-to-panic-yet-lando-norris-max-verstappen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/518754\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri title lead, drivers championship analysis, why it\u2019s not time for Aussie McLaren driver to panic yet, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oscar Piastri\u2019s performance at the United States Grand Prix was so out of character that McLaren launched an immediate inquiry into his car just to verify there was no secret technical problem behind his lack of pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is certainly one of the most important points that we need to review, which is the fact that Oscar in qualifying and in the race seemed to have a couple of tenths that he was not able to fully realise and that possibly was available in the car,\u201d McLaren principal Andrea Stella said, per Racer, on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are actually now checking that we are completely happy with the set-up of the car, the set-up of the floor, that everything is as intended from a car point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

But with no sign of anything unexpected in the data, it\u2019s hard to escape from the conclusion that Piastri owns the poor result.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That means he owns the rate at which title rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen are shrinking his championship advantage.<\/p>\n

He led Norris by 34 points and Verstappen by 104 points just four rounds ago. Now they\u2019re knocking on the door, just 14 points and 40 points behind respectively.<\/p>\n

But as tempting as it is to man the panic stations, there are three important reasons to keep calm as the championship heads towards its tight and unpredictable conclusion.<\/p>\n

‘Far too close’ – Oscar calls for parity | 03:25<\/p>\n

AUSTIN WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE A TOUGH TRACK<\/b><\/p>\n

The Circuit of the Americas has always been firmly in the Norris column when weighing up which tracks would suit which of the McLaren drivers.<\/p>\n

While Norris has been the better performer over their two years as teammate prior to 2025 \u2014 no real surprise given his experience advantage \u2014 COTA is one of the few at which his superiority has been absolute.<\/p>\n

Piastri\u2019s record relative to Norris in Austin is abysmal by his standards.<\/p>\n

Over three years they\u2019ve competed in five grand prix qualifying sessions and six races, including sprints.<\/p>\n

On average Piastri has been beaten by 0.486 seconds and six grid places.<\/p>\n

In the races he\u2019s been outscored 59-20 and beaten by an average of 3.6 places. During their time together Norris has scored on average 19.6 points per round, while Piastri has taken home just 6.7 points per round.<\/p>\n

That they should turn up to COTA this season and Norris should have the upper hand is unsurprising.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s any consolation, it\u2019s worth nothing that Piastri qualified closer than his average qualifying deficit and scored more than his three-year average.<\/p>\n

Why is that the case?<\/p>\n

Stella has some clues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we know with Oscar that when the conditions are such that we have low grip, you really need to challenge the car, lean on the understeer, oversteer, locking,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an area of his driving that has an opportunity to improve, and in Oscar\u2019s standards, this means that he we will improve pretty fast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think [on Sunday] we got quite a lot of information that adds to the information we got yesterday. Already [pre-race] we had some conversations with Oscar as to what we can do to extract more.<\/p>\n

MORE F1<\/b><\/p>\n

ANALYSIS: How title race would look if Piastri was backed as true issue with team orders laid bare<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is just data to learn, and Oscar will learn pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rapid learning is part of Piastri\u2019s profile as a racing driver, from session to session, round to round and season to season.<\/p>\n

That in itself could be part of his issue this weekend and in Austin in particular. For as long as he\u2019s been in Formula 1, this round has been run to the sprint format.<\/p>\n

Arriving already with a certain discomfort with the circuit, the lack of practice time before the first competitive session of the weekend immediately puts him on the back foot without the time to build up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

That was compounded this year by the first-lap sprint crash that left him and the team desperately lacking mileage in race conditions, making an already tough weekend even worse.<\/p>\n

This won\u2019t be the situation at other rounds. While two sprints remain this season, Piastri has already proved himself more competitive in both S\u00e3o Paulo and Lusail.<\/p>\n

Austin has all the hallmarks of being a one-off.<\/p>\n

HIS FORM HASN\u2019T ACTUALLY BEEN THAT BAD<\/b><\/p>\n

The numbers behind Piastri\u2019s slide are undeniable. He\u2019s lost 64 points to Verstappen in the last four rounds, and to Norris he\u2019s shipped 20 points during the same time.<\/p>\n

Those are numbers are representative of Verstappen\u2019s tremendous form in the second part of the season. To be fair to Norris, he\u2019s also clearly found another level since the midseason break \u2014 or perhaps since his power unit failure in the Netherlands took some pressure off him in this title fight.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019re not necessarily reflective of Piastri\u2019s form.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider it race by race.<\/p>\n

He started back from the midseason break with a comfortable victory from pole position that was assured even before Norris broke down.<\/p>\n

In Italy he was narrowly outqualified by Norris, but he was the cleaner operator.<\/p>\n

Consider, for example, that McLaren \u2014 in a contentious move \u2014 asked him to slipstream Norris in Q2 just to ensure his chief championship rival qualified inside the top 10, when the Briton subsequently pipped Piastri by a place.<\/p>\n

Piastri and Norris collide at turn one | 02:31<\/p>\n

Norris had fractionally better race pace, but the grand prix rapidly became a stalemate as Verstappen sprinted off into the distance. Even then, Piastri was still close enough to his teammate to capitalise on his slow pit stop, precipitating the awkward team orders situation.<\/p>\n

No signs of a slow-down so far.<\/p>\n

Azerbaijan was Piastri\u2019s first genuinely poor weekend of the year, crashing out of qualifying and then out of the race in a dire 24 hours.<\/p>\n

He was scrappy from start to premature end, but even then it wasn\u2019t as if he was miles off the pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, you\u2019re never going to feel amazing after a weekend like this,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cBut ultimately I felt like the pace has still been good this weekend, and I think it\u2019s rare that I have so many executional errors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be much more concerned if these errors were because I was trying to make up time or do things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stella described it as one of those inexplicable weekends every great driver has, and so far there\u2019s not really anything to suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n

Singapore followed. It\u2019s a track at which Norris has historically had an upper hand, but Piastri narrowly outqualified him by 0.062 seconds.<\/p>\n

He finished behind Norris only because of the controversial first-lap collision between them for which Norris has been internally punished. Given the dearth of overtaking in the race, that was decisive to their classified order.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only in the United States at the weekend that Piastri\u2019s pace has really deserted him \u2014 where his 0.3-second deficit to Norris was irrefutable and inexplicable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it [Singapore] was a good weekend apart from, obviously, the race results,\u201d he said, per Racer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think here [in Austin], yes, it\u2019s been a struggle for me. I don\u2019t feel like there\u2019s been anything like I\u2019ve made any major mistakes or from a driving side of things; it\u2019s just not clicking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not been so much of overdriving, it\u2019s just been that I haven\u2019t felt comfortable with the car, really.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s been the story of this weekend, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s been the story in the last one.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no reason Austin can\u2019t be the aberration of an otherwise consistently fast season.<\/p>\n

HE STILL LEADS THE CHAMPIONSHIP<\/b><\/p>\n

Momentum isn\u2019t the same as actuality. Even if momentum is with Piastri\u2019s title rivals, he\u2019s still in the enviable position of leading the world championship.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s never been in a position to grind out second-place finishes and win the title, but the calculus for him today relative to the Dutch Grand Prix is surprisingly similar: two more victories would see him put one hand on the title.<\/p>\n

Two more wins would mean his lead over Norris extends to at least 28 points, which would allow him to finish second to his teammate at all three other races. It would push Verstappen out to at least 54 points, snuffing out his charge.<\/p>\n

Even one more victory would change the operating environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to be perfect until the end to have a chance,\u201d Verstappen acknowledged. \u201cWe caught up a lot, but at the same time, the gaps [in performance] are very small.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think every weekend you need to try and be perfect, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll try to do until the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while 14 points his less than half Piastri\u2019s season-high 34-point lead he had after the Dutch Grand Prix, it\u2019s far from the smallest his advantage has been whittled down to this season.<\/p>\n

‘F***** idiot!’ – Sainz & Kimi clash | 00:55<\/p>\n

He took the lead at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a 10-point lead. Since then he\u2019s had a lead of fewer than 14 points five times: after Imola, Monte Carlo, Spain, Silverstone and Budapest.<\/p>\n

Each time he\u2019s rebuilt his buffer.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a place he hasn\u2019t been before \u2014 in fact he\u2019s been here in prior seasons, having won three junior titles in different ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s definitely been a useful experience that I\u2019ve tried to lean on,\u201d he said. \u201cNo championship is the same, but I think I\u2019ve kind of experience both ends of that \u2014 closing out Formula 2 and in some ways hanging on in Formula 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kind of know how both of those feel, and one of them is a lot nicer than the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to do the best job that I can each weekend and ultimately score as many points as I can. If I focus on that and keep doing the things I\u2019ve been doing well this year, it\u2019ll hopefully look more like closing out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Momentum and form count for a lot with five rounds remaining, but no-one would trade championship points for promise alone.<\/p>\n

Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

BUT THERE\u2019S A CATCH<\/b><\/p>\n

There are lots of reasons not to be unduly concerned by Piastri\u2019s slowing points accumulation. As Stella himself said, it would be entirely on-brand for the Australian to turn up at the next race and fire on all cylinders as though none of these conversations had ever happened.<\/p>\n

But there are more pitfalls in his future.<\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s Mexico City Grand Prix is a big one among them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s another bogey track, much like Austin.<\/p>\n

The results aren\u2019t as stark as they were for COTA, but the form is.<\/p>\n

In 2023 Piastri qualified seventh after Norris bombed out of Q1 in 19th after an error-prone performance.<\/p>\n

Despite the yawning gap in starting positions, Norris charged through to finish ahead of his teammate, taking the flag fifth ahead of Piastri in eighth.<\/p>\n

Their roles were reversed last year, with Piastri dumped out of qualifying in 17th while Norris qualified third.<\/p>\n

But Piastri\u2019s charge was considerably more muted, resulting in eighth while Norris finished second and just 4.7 seconds off the lead.<\/p>\n

Despite the Austin and Mexico City layouts being markedly different, there are some interesting similarities in conditions.<\/p>\n

Both track surfaces are very hot and low in grip. In Mexico that latter trait is exacerbated by the lack of downforce available in the thinner air at high altitude.<\/p>\n

Oscar watches on as McLaren celebrates | 01:04<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a combination of characteristics with which Piastri seems to struggle \u2014 certainly he did in Texas.<\/p>\n

There are other less concrete reasons to hedge on Piastri turning things around.<\/p>\n

This was the point last year at which his stunning run of European form was halted. He put the discrepancy between his championship-leading European campaign and his quiet final flyaway down to a lack of familiarity with the circuits \u2014 the junior categories race mostly in Europe, so his personal data bank on non-European tracks was much smaller.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s still a factor in only his third campaign.<\/p>\n

None of that means Piastri has to be on a downward trajectory. It doesn\u2019t change the fact that his speed, for the most part, hasn\u2019t left him in the second part of the season.<\/p>\n

It does mean, however, that this weekend is another danger race, and with two motivated title rivals on a charge, Mexico City could be another exercise in damage limitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri\u2019s performance at the United States Grand Prix was so out of character that McLaren launched an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[6207,22619,48184,117734,168981,2106,23014,168960,6872,48181,168988,168978,168969,108063,168958,168986,168982,168983,168977,168974,168971,168989,18904,299,168959,4199,168968,14590,707,4200,120621,168966,2190,2199,168972,168961,35357,1711,168973,1073,168965,2132,108055,1477,300,24993,168980,168962,168984,168967,168985,22604,168957,47251,45167,168964,168970,168975,168979,37048,168976,22713,43259,79,145224,369,168987,29618,22637,168963,16,15,25002,168990,17669,20873],"class_list":{"0":"post-518754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-andrea-stella","10":"tag-austin","11":"tag-average-qualifying-deficit","12":"tag-bogey-track","13":"tag-brazil","14":"tag-budapest","15":"tag-car-point","16":"tag-carlos-sainz","17":"tag-central-america","18":"tag-championship-advantage","19":"tag-championship-heads","20":"tag-championship-points","21":"tag-championship-run-in","22":"tag-championship-leading-european-campaign","23":"tag-chief-championship","24":"tag-cleaner-operator","25":"tag-comfortable-victory","26":"tag-controversial-first-lap-collision","27":"tag-damage-limitation","28":"tag-danger-race","29":"tag-drivers-championship-analysis","30":"tag-eastern-europe","31":"tag-europe","32":"tag-european-form","33":"tag-f1","34":"tag-first-lap-sprint-crash","35":"tag-football-league-championship","36":"tag-formula-1","37":"tag-formula1","38":"tag-grand-prix-qualifying","39":"tag-grid-places","40":"tag-hungary","41":"tag-italy","42":"tag-junior-categories-race","43":"tag-junior-titles","44":"tag-kimi-antonelli","45":"tag-lando-norris","46":"tag-max-closes","47":"tag-max-verstappen","48":"tag-mercedes-rookie","49":"tag-mexico","50":"tag-midseason-break","51":"tag-netherlands","52":"tag-north-america","53":"tag-northern-america","54":"tag-oscar-watches","55":"tag-panic-stations","56":"tag-power-unit-failure","57":"tag-practice-time","58":"tag-prix-qualifying-sessions","59":"tag-qualifying-session","60":"tag-quiet-final-flyaway","61":"tag-race-conditions","62":"tag-race-pace","63":"tag-race-results","64":"tag-rapid-learning","65":"tag-real-surprise","66":"tag-sainz-kimi","67":"tag-sao-paulo","68":"tag-slowing-points-accumulation","69":"tag-south-america","70":"tag-southern-europe","71":"tag-sports","72":"tag-sprint-format","73":"tag-texas","74":"tag-thinner-air","75":"tag-title-fight","76":"tag-title-lead","77":"tag-track-surfaces","78":"tag-uk","79":"tag-united-kingdom","80":"tag-united-states-of-america","81":"tag-upper-hand","82":"tag-western-europe","83":"tag-world-championship"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}