Oscar Piastri opened up about his mindset as he heads into the title showdown at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP as one of the three contenders.
Piastri’s title hopes took a hit at the Qatar GP, where a costly strategy blunder from the team saw him lose ground to both teammate Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. He currently sits third in the standings, trailing Verstappen by 4 points and championship leader Norris by 16 points.
Reflecting on missed opportunities
Speaking at Thursday’s drivers’ press conference alongside his title rivals, Piastri reflected on the turning points and missed opportunities throughout the season. After recovering from an initial points deficit to take the championship lead in Jeddah, the Australian endured a tough run post-summer break—losing form just as Norris surged and Verstappen began mounting his late-season charge.
Piastri acknowledged the setbacks and shortcomings when asked about missed opportunities, saying, “Yeah, I mean, there are a few moments to choose from, I’d say, unfortunately.
“But I think for everyone, there’s always moments, and no season is ever going to be perfect.
“It’s not particularly useful picking out ‘I lost this amount of points here, this amount of points there,’ because everyone’s lost a certain amount of points at some point along the way,” he continued.
“Definitely on my side of things, there’s been a few races or a few moments I’d like to have again. Same thing as the team, I’m sure. But yeah, picking one—I don’t think there’s one that’s hurt more than others.”
Qatar form helps Piastri stay grounded amid title tension
Piastri had looked the sharper of the McLaren drivers in Qatar before the team’s strategic fumble cost him a likely win. This ultimately allowed Verstappen to claw back even more points, setting up the three-way finale.
Nevertheless, his strong performance appears to have given him a much-needed confidence boost after a string of subpar weekends. While his McLaren teammate is the mathematical favourite heading into the weekend, and Verstappen is fighting to overturn the odds and claim a fifth consecutive title, Piastri sees himself as the contender with “the least to lose”.
“I’m relaxed,” he said when asked how he was handling the pressure of his first F1 title decider.
“I’ve been on the opposite side of the championship battle in the junior categories, and I know what that felt like and it was pretty tough.
“Coming into it from, you know, the least to lose out of us three is quite different for me. And I think off the back of Qatar, I’ve got a lot of confidence that I can perform well.
“Obviously, I need a fair few things to happen this weekend to come out champion,” he admitted, “but I’ll just make sure I’m in the right place at the right time and see what happens.”
Permutations raise team orders question at McLaren
As the finale edges closer, much of the speculation has turned to whether McLaren will step in with team orders if a title is within reach.
The team has faced mounting criticism this season for a series of questionable strategy decisions made in the name of impartiality. The most recent example of this played out in Qatar last week, where McLaren’s reluctance to double-stack their drivers under the early-race safety car to avoid putting Norris at a disadvantage, turned what should have been a comfortable 1-2 finish into a 2-4, sparking renewed scrutiny of McLaren’s driver management.
While team principal Andrea Stella reiterated that both drivers enter the weekend with equal status, it’s not unreasonable to assume the team’s stance will change if the situation demands it come Sunday.
A hypothetical was posed: if Verstappen leads the race, Norris runs fourth and Piastri sits third, would he be asked to yield the position to help his teammate secure the title?
“It’s not something we’ve discussed,” Piastri stated. “So, yeah. I mean, until I know what’s kind of expected… I don’t really have an answer until I know what’s expected of me.”
