Against all odds, Óscar Piastri is leading the way at McLaren. Or at least he is proving himself to be a driver who is not content with being the second driver he has been since the middle of last year. At that point, Lando Norris was seen as the main asset, especially given that the papaya-colored cars had a good single-seater, at the very least, to compete for the World Championship.
McLaren put all its faith in Norris, but it is Piastri who leads the World Championship
In 2024, Norris was in contention for the title that ultimately went to Max Verstappen in Miami, when it became clear that the McLaren MCL38 was fast, very fast (as evidenced by the Constructors’ title), and that Red Bull had more weaknesses in six races than in the entire era of the current regulations, since 2022.
It is therefore with a fast car and hardly any weak points that McLaren put all its faith in Lando Norris, who, without doing badly at certain points of the year, coupled with significant strategy errors, was clearly unable to stop Max Verstappen, who did not make a single mistake in the fight for the title.
But Piastri, either because of his youth or because he was not in a position to fight for the World Championship, let his teammate lead a McLaren that, with the fastest car, failed to take advantage of the opportunities it had. In fact, except for Qatar, where he finished on the podium, Óscar Piastri had finished with a 5th place as his best result in the last seven races. But everyone knew that the 24-year-old Australian had all the makings of a surprise package.
No one can argue with Piastri
And that’s exactly what he did in 2025. So much so that after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Piastri, in an unbeatable McLaren, has already climbed to the top of the standings after beating Verstappen behind the scenes. In fact, it has taken almost a decade and a half, but Australia once again has one of its own as the World Championship leader. He now has a ten-point lead over his teammate, Lando Norris.
A really good start for Piastri, whose season, apart from the mistake in Australia, has been flawless. This has allowed him to tell his agent, Webber, that he is no longer the last Australian to lead the Formula 1 World Championship, that title now belongs to him, and both hope it stays that way for a long time.
As for McLaren, the papaya team points out that there is no favoritism or predetermined hierarchy, which leaves the battle wide open and set to continue in Miami. This will probably be the race that determines the strength of Norris or Piastri in the fight for the title.
Looking at the speed data, no one can argue with Piastri. In Australia, he lost pole position to Norris, but he pushed hard and only the team’s request not to get involved in battles prevented any surprises. In China, he gave no quarter during the race. In Japan, he was on the way to victory, but McLaren prevented any change of position and gave Max Verstappen a clear run. And in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, he was unbeatable.
He leaves Verstappen behind and drops Norris
All in all, the Melbourne driver’s coup is remarkable. Both for the psychological boost of leaving Verstappen behind and for the number of points that fall to Lando Norris. The Briton climbed to fourth on a day of warfare, making it clear that the ‘4’ will have to fight harder than ever for the World Championship with his teammate. This is especially true given that Max Verstappen will find it difficult to keep up with the Woking team.
Thus, the young Piastri, in his third season in F1, has the opportunity he has dreamed of all his life: to win the F1 world title after 2024, in his second season with McLaren, a year in which the British team took a definitive step forward to have the best car since the sixth race of the year, with the Australian showing great progress and displaying high-quality skills, as in his victories in Hungary and Baku.