Martin Brundle has spotted an ‘interesting’ act by Oscar Piastri that could be game-changing in the McLaren driver’s 2025 F1 title fight against teammate Lando Norris.
The Australian arrived for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix leading the F1 drivers’ standings for the first time in his career. Piastri moved 10 points clear of Norris in the championship in Saudi Arabia after scoring his third win of the season during the first five rounds of the year.
Norris had opened a 23-point lead over Piastri in round one when he won the Australian GP from pole position, while the Melbourne native recovered to P9 after he spun in the late rain whilst in second place. But the Briton has not been as comfortable racing their MCL39 since.
Martin Brundle found Oscar Piastri’s defence against Max Verstappen in Saudi Arabia ‘interesting to see’
Piastri adapted to the tweaks McLaren made to their 2025 car easier than Norris. It has seen him be able to unlock the MCL39’s pace more naturally than the Bristol native and also seen Piastri win from his first pole in F1 in China, from pole in Bahrain and from P2 in Saudi Arabia.
Now, he has an F1 Sprint race at the Miami GP to potentially stretch the lead Piastri created after Norris crashed in Q3 for the Saudi Arabian GP and could only recover to P4. The early-season leader span at Turn 4 trying to match the speed that Piastri could take in the corner.
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How Piastri handled racing wheel-to-wheel with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen at the start of the Saudi Arabian GP also showed Brundle why the Australian is becoming the driver to beat. The McLaren ace forced the four-time champion into a mistake that would decide the race.
Brundle said on Sky Sports F1 (02/05, 17:03): “If he keeps on this rate of progress, he’s going to be tough to beat this season because he’s improved his qualifying [and] his racing.
“And it was interesting to see him wheel-to-wheel with Max in Saudi Arabia for the first time when it really mattered. Yep, he’s turning into the man to beat.”
Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris in the McLaren qualifying head-to-head after losing in 2023 and 2024
Verstappen received a five-second penalty in the Saudi Arabian GP for cutting the corner at Turn 2 and gaining an advantage, having tried to pull away from Piastri after losing the lead into T1. The Dutchman lifted off the brakes and used the run-off as he would not make T2.
Piastri got the nose of his McLaren in front of Verstappen’s Red Bull before T1 after getting a great launch off the line. The racing line through T1 which also sets up T2 was clearly his, yet Verstappen refused to accept he had lost the place and cut the corner to remain in the lead.
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The Saudi Arabian GP weekend also showed Brundle how much Piastri has improved over a single-lap in qualifying since his debut at the start of the 2023 Formula 1 season. Norris won the qualifying head-to-head at McLaren in 2023 and 2024, but he is losing to Piastri in 2025.
Norris even dominated Piastri 20-4 in their Grand Prix qualifying head-to-head last year and 4-2 in Sprint Qualifying after winning 15-7 and 5-1 in 2023. Yet the Australian leads 3-2 thus far in 2025 for Grand Prix qualifying results after scoring his first and second F1 career poles.
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