Oscar Piastri turned his fourth pole position of 2025 into his fifth win this year at the Spanish Grand Prix, which put his championship lead over Lando Norris to 10 points.
Only the McLaren stars have led the F1 drivers’ championship so far this season, with Norris dethroning Red Bull rival Max Verstappen after 1,029 days and then Piastri overthrowing his cohort 35 days later. Piastri also became the first Australian to top the standings in 10 years.
Both Norris and Piastri climbed atop the F1 drivers’ championship for the first time in their careers following wins this term, as well. But Piastri even overturned a 23-point deficit after recovering to ninth place as Norris won the Australian Grand Prix from pole to edge in front.
The 24-year-old has sealed other career firsts in the 2025 F1 season, as well, as Piastri won the Chinese Grand Prix from his first pole. McLaren have also seen the Melbourne native get pole for the Bahrain and Emilia Romagna Grands Prix, along with last weekend’s Spanish GP.
Oscar Piastri’s improvement in qualifying to lead the 2025 F1 championship astounds Jolyon Palmer
McLaren star Piastri took pole for the 2025 Spanish GP with the biggest margin over second place, which was Norris, so far this year, as well. He beat the Briton by 0.209 seconds at the end of Q3, having trailed the 25-year-old by 0.017s following their initial runs in the session.
Norris had dominated Piastri in their head-to-head battles since McLaren gifted the latter his F1 debut in 2023. Yet the momentum has swung back and forth between them in 2025, with Piastri edging Norris during qualifying in China, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Imola and Spain so far.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
| Grand Prix | F1 Sprint | |
| 2023 F1 season | Norris 15-7 Piastri | Norris 5-1 Piastri |
| 2024 F1 season | Norris 20-4 Piastri | Norris 4-2 Piastri |
| 2025 F1 season | Norris 4-5 Piastri | Norris 0-2 Piastri |
Piastri’s improvement in qualifying this term astounds Jolyon Palmer, who feels the 2020 FIA F3 and 2021 F2 champion has shown more progress than any driver on the 2025 F1 grid. His greater speed over a single lap has also been pivotal to Piastri leading the drivers’ standings.
Palmer told the F1 website: “There was no doubting Oscar’s race craft. But to mount a title challenge, he’d need to improve his fundamental pace in both qualifying and the race.
“Qualifying pace has been the biggest standout improvement from him this year. In fact, if you look at the whole field, no driver has made a bigger step over one lap.
“He’s gone from ending last season 20-4 down to teammate Lando in a relative qualifying whitewash to leading the duo’s head-to-head form this campaign… It’s fair to say the floodgates have opened after his China success.”
Oscar Piastri has more than delivered on McLaren’s request to improve his qualifying
As well as losing 20-4 to Norris across last term’s 24 Grand Prix qualifying sessions, Piastri was one to two-tenths of a second a lap slower than the Briton. So, McLaren told Piastri to improve his qualifying in 2025 and he has more than delivered with four pole positions yet.
Had it not been for a mere 0.084s in Melbourne this March, Piastri would have scored pole for the Australian GP instead of Norris, too. Just 0.032s also split the McLaren racers for P2 and P3 on the Japanese Grand Prix grid in Norris’ favour and 0.106s for P2 and P4 in Miami.
The worst deficit that Piastri has faced in qualifying to his teammate so far this season came as Norris secured pole for the Monaco Grand Prix with a new lap record. Piastri was 0.175s slower than the Briton’s 1:09.954, which made Norris the sole driver in the 1:09s, to get P3.
Leave feedback about this