McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is having the perfect start to the 2025 Formula 1 season.
After an error at the Australian Grand Prix gave Lando Norris a 23-point advantage over Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ championship, he’s barely put a foot wrong.
Piastri has now won four of the first six races, and completed a hat-trick of victories for McLaren at the Miami Grand Prix.
Unsurprisingly, many people now consider Piastri the favourite to win the championship.
He’s opened up a 16-point lead over Norris and reigning champion Max Verstappen is more than a race win behind.
That buffer could be important for Piastri, with Red Bull believing McLaren could be impacted by F1’s front wing rule change which is arriving at the Spanish Grand Prix.
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
131 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
115 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
99 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
93 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
53 |
| 6 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
| 7 |
Lewis Hamilton |
41 |
| 8 |
Alexander Albon |
30 |
| 9 |
Esteban Ocon |
14 |
| 10 |
Lance Stroll |
14 |
However, the FIA have dismissed claims surrounding McLaren’s car, meaning Piastri and Norris are unlikely to be retrospectively penalised.
Piastri is beginning to draw comparisons to several Formula 1 legends, including Alain Prost.
Prost praised Piastri in a recent interview with L’Equipe, and journalist Frederic Ferret has provided more details on what the four-time world champion sees in the Australian.
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Ferret was speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast after Piastri had stood on the top step of the podium in Miami.
He explained, “I think Max doesn’t care about what the others think.
“He only cares about himself and in the same way, Oscar has the same mindset.
“Prost did a column for L’Equipe yesterday or today, and he says a thing about Oscar, which is the same as Max.
| Grand Prix starts | 199 |
| Pole positions | 33 |
| Wins | 51 |
| Podiums | 106 |
| Fastest laps | 41 |
| Points | 768.5 (798.5) |
| Championships | 4 |
“And he knows Oscar for a long time because Mark [Webber] introduced Oscar to Alain when he was the boss of Renault.
“And this is why Renault signed the young gun, and he wrote in the column that for him, there are two drivers who don’t care about anything else other than racing because they are both like him.
“Even Oscar, who has only raced for three years, they only care about racing.”
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Piastri’s calm demeanour and level-headedness have seen comparisons drawn with several other top Formula 1 drivers.
Jenson Button compared Piastri to Lewis Hamilton after his win in Miami, suggesting that there are similarities between the Australian right now and the way Hamilton won his first championship in 2008.
Piastri has leant into comparisons with Kimi Raikkonen, who was known as The Iceman for never getting too high or too low regardless of what’s happening on track.
| Category | Lando Norris | Oscar Piastri |
| 2025 points | 115 | 131 |
| Grand Prix results | 2 | 4 |
| Grand Prix qualifying | 3 | 3 |
| Grand Prix wins | 1 | 4 |
| Grand Prix poles | 1 | 2 |
| Grand Prix podiums | 6 | 6 |
| Best finish | 1st | 1st |
| Retirements | 0 | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 4 | 1 |
| Grand Prix points finishes | 6 | 6 |
| Sprint results | 1 | 1 |
| Sprint Qualifying | 0 | 2 |
| Sprint wins | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint poles | 0 | 0 |
| Sprint podiums | 1 | 2 |
Raikkonen was the final driver to win a championship for Ferrari, and Piastri is hoping to break a similar streak at McLaren who haven’t seen one of their stars claim the title since Mika Hakkinen.
Prost is another world-class driver Piastri has now earned a comparison with, and he’ll be hoping that he can take inspiration from The Professor and go on to become a multiple world champion as well.
