Oscar Piastri closed out a breakthrough 2025 season with a strong second-place finish at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, after overtaking his teammate on Lap 1 and maintaining consistent pace throughout.
Piastri missed out on FP1 as rookie Pato O’Ward drove behind the wheel of his MCL39. Adjusting to the track in FP2, Piastri finished 11th before taking P5 in FP3. He missed out on pole to Max Verstappen by 0.230 seconds and settled for a P3 start with Lando Norris ahead in second.
Final race of the season
Battling for the driver’s championship with a 16-point gap to Norris, Oscar Piastri’s F1 Abu Dhabi GP race began with promise as he overtook his teammate at Turn 9 to claim second on the opening lap. On Lap 24, he took the lead as Verstappen peeled into the pits and led the race until his own pit stop on Lap 41 after serving a long stint on hard tyres.
Switching to mediums, Piastri left the pits to come out in second with a 24-second gap to race leader, Verstappen. The Aussie was eager to take the win but struggled with his rear tyres, ultimately finishing 12.594 seconds behind the Dutch driver.
Reflecting on his 16th podium of 2025 and the overall weekend, Piastri said: “I think, honestly, pretty good. You know, there wasn’t anything left out there. Obviously, we tried a bit of a gamble on the strategy to give ourselves some different options and, you know, hope that the stars aligned and give ourselves the best chance. But ultimately, in the end, that didn’t happen. So yeah, I think, you know, given as well, I missed the practice session, took a little bit to find my feet.
“Yeah, I think that was the maximum we could have achieved today. You know, we didn’t have an answer for Max’s pace. So pretty happy with the weekend. But yeah, not much more we could have done.”
Piastri “very proud” of his 2025 season
Despite missing out on the win and the championship title, Oscar Piastri looks back at his season with pride and takes key lessons into the future.
“Uh, definitely. I mean, I think, you know, comparing different parts of different people’s careers is always difficult with different cars and stuff,” he said, after being reminded of his success in only his third F1 season and that he is the Australian with the most wins in a single season.
“But I think definitely I can be very, very proud of the season I’ve had. You know, I think when I look at this season compared to my first two years in F1, this year has been head and shoulders above the first two. And, you know, I think ultimately whilst the end result is not quite what I wanted, I think there’s a lot of optimism and a lot of strength that I’ve gained from, you know, proving to myself what I can achieve through this season. And, you know, those are the kind of things that are not necessarily tied to results.”
He concluded with optimism for the future: “So I think for me, I can definitely take that forward into the future. And, you know, like you said, it’s only my third attempt at this in F1. Hopefully I’ve got plenty more to go. But there’s definitely lessons from this year that will only make me stronger for the years to come.”
