McLaren Racing’s Oscar Piastri has his sights set on further extending his championship lead at the 2025 F1 Dutch GP. In 2025, the Australian has been a force to be reckoned with, collecting six wins and podiums to hold a slim nine-point advantage over his teammate Lando Norris. While McLaren appear to be on course to secure the Constructors’ title, the intra-team fight between Piastri and Norris continues to unfold as ten rounds remain.
Just before the summer break, Norris showcased a one-stop strategy masterclass to claim victory and beat the Australian to the line at the 2025 Hungarian GP. For Piastri, who opted for the conservative two-stop strategy, missed the chance to secure his seventh victory of the season and extend his championship lead. As a mere nine points separate the McLaren pair, the last ten rounds are all to play for.
Heading into the weekend, the 24-year-old sits on top of the Drivers’ Standings with 284 points to his name. Speaking in his Thursday media session, the Australian reflected on the setbacks that denied him the chance of extending his championship lead and the strategical decisions made on his side of the garage during the 2025 Hungarian GP.
“A lot of the things I can control, I feel like I’ve controlled very well” says Piastri
Besides Hungary, Piastri lost another opportunity at Silverstone where a ten-second time penalty costed him the win. If Silverstone and Hungary had unfolded in the Australian’s favour, the Australian would now be leading the championship by 37 points. While he admitted that, in racing, moments don’t always go your way, he doesn’t feel hard done by. Instead, with the position he’s in, Piastri emphasised on the positives and lessons learnt as the season continues to unfold.
“No, I don’t. I don’t think there’s always going to be things in racing that you don’t necessarily agree with or don’t go the way you want. And that’s just part of it.
“You know, sometimes it makes you wonder why you picked this damn sport. But no, I think, and I certainly don’t feel hard done, but I think we’ve done a lot of things well that we can control this year, and there’s been some tough moments, some tough lessons. But, you know, I’m very confident with the position that I’m in.”
Confident in his abilities, Piastri believed he’s maximised every opportunities whenever the situation have been within his control. The Australian acknowledged that its easy to dwell on setbacks. However, he remains focused on maintaining and improving the strong form he has showcased this year.
“I feel like I’ve driven well this year, and again, a lot of the things I can control, I feel like I’ve controlled very well. So, yeah, you know, there is an alternate universe where a lot of things look very different, but none of that matters. So I’m just trying to focus on these next ten races and how I can perform either the same or if not even better than I did at the start of the year and where we’re at.”
Hungary strategy debate put to rest
In hindsight, the two-stop strategy wasn’t the right approach for Piastri during the Hungarian GP. Following the race, media discussions were focused on McLaren’s strategy and how decisions were made between their two cars. When asked whether the team had discussed how to manage situations to ensure fairness between the duo, Piastri responded with a simple confirmation. The Australian explained that, oftentimes, being the second car or last car in a group carries significantly less risk strategically.
“Yeah, we’ve spoken about it since then. You know, I think ultimately there are race situations where being the second car from the team on track or just don’t even have to be the second car from your team, it’s just being the kind of last car in the train or the last car in the group. You’ve got a lot less to lose.”
Acknowledging that differences in strategy will always exists, Piastri said it would be unfair to neutralise the pair and assured that McLaren have discussed about adjustments moving forward. Despite their positions in the championship, he confirmed that both drivers are free to continue to take different approaches to strategy if they wanted.
“So that kind of aspect is always going to be there, and I think it would be unfair to neutralise that just because of wanting to be on the same strategy. I think there was discussions about whether there was anything we could have done differently for myself, which were very productive discussions. So I think we’re still going to be free to pick alternate strategies if that’s what we want.
“But yes, there was definitely some discussions about how we can tackle that, because obviously it’s a difficult thing to try and cover different strategies, especially when you’re in the position we are in the championship.”
