Oscar Piastri, is not reading too much into beating Max Verstappen in a head-to-head battle in Jeddah last race weekend, as he feels he didn’t have anything to prove. The Australian has been the in-form driver this season, and his relentless performances have seen him take over the championship lead from McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
The 2025 F1 season has been a revelation for Oscar Piastri because of the manner in which he’s stepped up for the title fight. Except for the first race, where a mistake cost him a ton of points, the Australian has been more or less on the mark and sees himself in the lead of the championship.
What stood out from him in the race in Jeddah was the manner in which he won the smaller battles that helped him secure the win. The driver was quicker off the line in Jeddah and hence was able to take the inside line. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, had to take the escape road, which would ultimately cost him the win.
When questioned, if he felt that now Max Verstappen would race differently with him as he has emerged as the key championship protagonist, Oscar Piastri didn’t want to think on those lines but was happy with the fact that he was able to put himself in a position to win the race. As quoted by GPBlog, he said,
“I think if it was, if the cars were the other way around, it probably would have looked identical. I don’t expect Max to race me any differently because of last week. I always know it’s going to be a tough fight with Max, he’s going to push things right to the limit. That’s what we’re all here to do,”
He added,
“But I think for myself, I didn’t feel like I had anything to prove or anything to go out and do. That’s just how I would race, regardless of who it is. But I think I was just proud of the fact that I stayed on the track, managed to pull it up, and I didn’t make the move, but put myself in the position to win the race. And that was the biggest thing for me.”
Oscar Piastri on how each of the wins have been a bit different
Looking back at his season so far, Oscar Piastri touched on how he felt about each of his wins this season as they have been a bit different from his previous ones. The driver has won 3 races. One in China, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia each. In China, the driver bounced back from a disappointing sprint. In Bahrain, he was just dominant. Finally in Saudi Arabia, he wasn’t necessarily the faster driver at McLaren but made fewer mistakes. He said,
“I think the three wins I’ve had so far have all looked slightly different. I think Bahrain was a very, very strong weekend. China was a similar weekend. Whereas I think Saudi, I think the competition was closer. I think I didn’t have it all my own way that weekend.”
He added,
“And I won in Saudi because of being very strong in other areas, I think. And for me, I’d rather not have to rely on that every week, but I think I’m proud of the fact that I kind of have different tools at my disposal to try and win races,”
Heading into the race weekend in Miami, Oscar Piastri is leading the championship by 10 points, and the driver would be hoping to build on it this weekend.
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Edited by pranavsethii
