Australia’s young star Oscar Piastri has had another breakout Formula 1 season. The two-time FIA Rookie of the Year has experienced some of the biggest highs whilst also learning the racecraft and consistency required to battle the greats to be crowned champion in 2025.
The 23-year-old’s lasting memory of 2024 will be his maiden victory in Hungary. Finally breaking through to become a Formula 1 winner is a dream for many.
Piastri realised his dream after overtaking his teammate Lando Norris and world champion Max Verstappen into turn 1. He controlled his pace until McLaren prioritised Norris at the pit stops. This led to an internal squabble over positions due to the procedural error.
McLaren, new to fighting for wins in hindsight, wouldn’t make this decision again. Piastri faulted slightly running into the gravel after his stop, but Norris eventually relented to allow the Aussie to take his rightful first win. However, by all measures, his second win in Azerbaijan demonstrated the world championship material from the Melburnian.
Starting second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Piastri fell behind in the first stint overusing his tyres but after Leclerc pitted and came out only just in front of Piastri the Aussie pounced. Diving to the inside into turn 1 on lap 20 saw a change of lead.
Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren F1 Team. (Photo by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
The subsequent pressure absorbed by Piastri was hard to watch. Fighting tooth and nail to hold on for dear life proved effective as Leclerc finally ran out of grip leaving the Aussie to sail home for what he described as his most stressful afternoon.
Piastri and Norris led McLaren to their first constructor’s title since 1998, a remarkable achievement considering the young nature of these two drivers.
Many applauded Piastri during the European leg of the season for challenging Norris and potentially trying to assert himself as a No.1 driver, something compatriots Mark Webber (his manager) and Daniel Ricciardo failed to do for the majority of their careers when in title-contending machinery.
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Piastri’s divebomb on Norris on lap 1 in Monza was a statement overtake that showed how ruthless car No.81 can be. The aforementioned move in Azerbaijan against Leclerc and his overtake in Belgium on the Monegasque saw back-to-back overtake of the year nominations.
Piastri’s racecraft is already one of the stand-out features that defined his race wins. Unfortunately, he was outclassed across the season when compared to Norris. 8-16 in races and 4-20 in qualifying was fairly underwhelming.
Giving Norris some praise briefly he had a fantastic season in which he took four victories. Piastri struggled to match the Brit in qualifying which saw him struggle to get the better of him, even if his race pace was strong. Piastri when racing wheel-to-wheel is just as quick as his teammate but he doesn’t put himself in the position often enough to do just that.
After the first year, many criticised Piastri’s tyre degradation. Now, I believe his qualifying woes are proving to be harmful. Particularly in the latter third of the season early exits in the United States Sprint Shootout and Mexico Qualifying made momentum difficult to garner.
Oscar Piastri absolutely has world championship-level talent and there is little doubt in my mind that McLaren will bring a car with the potential to crown one of its drivers as champion of the world. If Piastri can start next to or ahead of Norris on a more frequent basis he can assert himself as team leader.
Next year will be pivotal for Piastri and his first chance to make a statement will come in his home city of Melbourne in March next year.
Can he announce himself as a leading contender? I think he can.