Oscar Piastri is ready to become World Champion in F1 2025, claims 1980 F1 Champion and compatriot Alan Jones.

That is because Jones sees Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris as a “weak person”, as Jones expressed his rather blunt opinion on the Brit, who joins McLaren team-mate Piastri in the title fight.

Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: F1 2025 crown coming to Piastri?

F1 2025 marks the third season as McLaren team-mates for Norris and Piastri, with the team’s rapid surge up the order which started in 2024 having made McLaren F1 2025 title favourites.

The opening five rounds of the season have done little to change that narrative, but while Norris was the McLaren driver more widely predicted for a maiden World Championship after applying the pressure on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in his fourth consecutive title win in 2024, Piastri has very much staked his claim.

Having won three of the opening five grands prix, Piastri has catapulted himself to the top of the Drivers’ Championship, moving 10 points clear of Norris who would have welcomed the end of the triple-header, having claimed he was not gelling with the McLaren MCL39 amid several blunt self-assessments.

Norris is no stranger to being tough on himself, and has been open about his past mental health struggles.

And this “nonsense”, as Jones believes it to be, means that in his opinion, Norris is there for the taking for Piastri.

“The first person you’ve got to beat is your team-mate,” said Jones on Fox Sport’s ‘The Back Page’.

“He [Piastri] can do it (become World Champion) this year, no question. At the end of the day, his team-mate is weak.

“His team-mate is quite quick, there’s no doubt about that. But mentally, I think he’s quite a weak person. He’s coming out with all this nonsense that he’s got a bit of a mental thing, he’s dwelling on some of the problems he’s had rather than the positives.

“When they start talking all that nonsense, you know you’ve got them.”

Jones added on Piastri: “He is without a doubt a future World Champion.

“He’s come out of almost nowhere and he’s got all the attributes that you need to be a World Champion.”

Key F1 2025 stats

👉 Revealed: The biggest improvers and biggest drop offs from 2024 to 2025

👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

With a free weekend to regroup ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Norris had suggested that a key mentality shift was coming, one which would see him “chill out” more and ease some of the pressure on himself, as he looks to get his title challenge back on track.

Put to him on the F1 Nation podcast that it looked like he was having fun during the Saudi Arabian GP last time out, Norris having recovered to P4 after crashing out in Q3, he replied: “I was trying to. It’s when I perform well, when I’m having fun and I’m relaxed.

“I’m probably just putting a bit too much pressure on myself at the minute, not because of any reason, and not because of the championship and all these things, just because I just put too much pressure on myself, because I want to do well. I want to do so well. I want to be pole. I want to win. I want to be perfect.

“And I think I need to accept a little bit more that I’m not going to be perfect and I’m making mistakes because I’m trying to be perfect, rather than the other way around.

“So I think I just need to chill out a little bit, have a bit more trust in my speed, because my speed today and my speed in every race this season has been, I think, the best. I’m very confident that I can win the races if I just give myself a better chance on Saturdays.

“So, it’s easier said than done and I need to go out and do a better job on Saturdays, but that’s what I’ll be working on.”

Read next: Norris at risk of being blacklisted by ‘top teams’ as Schumacher issues warning