Oscar Piastri goes to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with the chance to build his 16-point lead against Lando Norris and match a McLaren record of Ayrton Senna.
The 24-year-old has completely turned the tables in Woking since Norris won the Australian Grand Prix to instantly move 23 points clear of Piastri in the F1 drivers’ championship at the opening round. Since he rescued P9 in Melbourne, Piastri has outscored Norris by 39 points.
McLaren even watched the Australian become their first driver since Mika Hakkinen in 1998 to win three Grands Prix in a row with the team with Piastri’s wins in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami. Now, he can be only their second driver after Senna in 1991 to win four in a row.
How Oscar Piastri races Lando Norris and Max Verstappen is ‘impossible’ for Mark Webber ‘not to like’
Norris has only won once so far in the 2025 F1 season, the same tally as four-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull has earned, ahead of the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola this weekend. The Briton has come second to Piastri twice and once to Verstappen this year.
The 25-year-old has also seen Piastri show Norris how to race Verstappen in Miami and also Saudi Arabia while fighting for the lead of the Grands Prix. The Melbourne native has played the Dutchman at his own game with aggressive lines which force Verstappen into mistakes.
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Piastri’s manager, Mark Webber, even thinks how his compatriot is handling the pressure of his first F1 title challenge ‘impossible not to like’. Webber, who was the last Australian to top the F1 drivers’ championship in 2010 whilst at Red Bull, loves how Piastri is holding his own.
“It’s just the way he is,” Webber has told Auto Action. “He refuses to get carried away. That’s it, because, I think, it’s also a reflection of what his ambition is, and that’s how he’s rolling at the moment.
“Of course, he’s at the start, we believe, of a very, very long career, and people like Lewis [Hamilton and] like Fernando [Alonso], were different in the first three years of their careers than, of course, for the last three years, in terms of how the people view them as a character and, I suppose, someone to look up to.
“But, at the moment, for everyone, it’s impossible not to like how Oscar goes about what he does. He’s talking on the track [and] he’s very respectful, of course, of the opposition, but he doesn’t overplay their reputations. That’s clear.”
Oscar Piastri’s F1 title approach should overcome McLaren’s expectations for crashes with Lando Norris
The Emilia Romagna GP at Imola this weekend is only Piastri’s 53rd Grand Prix entry since he joined McLaren to debut in Formula 1 in the 2023 season. Yet the 2020 F3 and 2021 F2 title-winner is at home whenever he goes elbow-to-elbow with his rivals at the front of the field.
And while McLaren expect Piastri and Norris will crash at some stage of their F1 title fight in 2025, CEO Zak Brown has confirmed they will not impose team orders and pick a No1 driver until the Australian or the Briton are no longer mathematically able to become a champion.
READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge
But even if Brown expects his drivers will crash, how Piastri has impressed Webber with the way he has handled the pressure of the 2025 F1 title fight suggests he could overcome such an issue. Norris, on the other hand, is quickly slipping into a position he must push his limits.
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