Oscar Piastri had a strong second season in Formula 1 at McLaren, capitalising on their car’s impressive performance and winning his first races amid a fierce title battle between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
The Australian was one of seven different winners last season and while that was the most F1 has seen since 2012 in a single season, Piastri managed to join the others in having more than one race win to his name.
Much of the season was dominated by Verstappen taking nine victories while the Ferrari drivers and Mercedes took some wins midway through the season. McLaren was consistent enough to be regular podium finishers, but there was one race that stood out for Piastri.
His Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory was a standout because he pulled off a stunning overtake on Charles Leclerc, which Karun Chandhok said had ‘tremendous confidence’ at the time. In the aftermath of the race, McLaren was told to change their rear wing by the FIA after rivals spotted it flexing under load and enabling Piastri to reach higher top speeds.
Discussing the race on the BBC Back At Base podcast, Piastri’s engineer Tom Stallard recalls how the aerodynamics department was impressed by what the Australian did during the race.
McLaren aerodynamicists impressed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Piastri’s move on Leclerc for the lead was a late lunge a few meters before the braking zone of Turn 1 and later remarked in the cool-down room that it was 50/50 that he would make the corner.
Leclerc reacted well to not hit the McLaren while Piastri managed to exit the corner without colliding with the barriers, which protrude on the exit of the corner. McLaren’s aerodynamicists looked at the data post-race and could not fathom how Piastri managed to make the move stick according to Stallard.
“We have a lovely story from our aerodynamics performance engineer, who has done some analysis on the overtaking. All of his analysis assumed the cars would be level at the start of the race, so Oscar’s overtake should have been impossible for him from where he was on the exit of the final corner,” said Stallard.
“This chap Luigi said ‘He must be like the bumble bee’ the aerodynamicists will tell you it can’t fly but the bumble bee doesn’t know that, so it flys anyway. Oscar sent it from miles back and Charles was quite surprised to find a car at that corner, so we got the jump.”
Oscar Piastri likely to extend contract with McLaren amid rival team interest
Last years F1 driver market was full of frantic activity because of chain reaction set off by Lewis Hamilton, whose move to Ferrari saw Carlos Sainz play a pivotal role in how the midfield shaped out in 2025.
George Russell is expected to be the next catalyst for 2026 should he decide to break away from Mercedes, but Piastri could also prove to be a key figure.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
It is no surprise that Piastri has generated a lot of hype, mainly as he is seen as a contender for a title in the future. He was the subject of a contract dispute with McLaren and Alpine, both of whom fought for his services before the F1 Contract Recognition Board ruled in favour of the former.
According to a report by The Race, it is expected that Piastri will extend his contract with McLaren this year amid interest from rival teams on the grid. If that was to happen, McLaren would need to find a Plan B having extended its contract with Lando Norris last season.
Leave feedback about this