Oscar Piastri says he’s “still got the belief” he can win the 2025 Formula 1 world championship even if he continues to struggle to match team-mate and rival Lando Norris.
Piastri led Norris by 34 points after the latter’s Dutch GP retirement at the end of August, but has since seen his lead evaporate due to a non-score of his own in Baku, and two off-the-pace weekends in Austin and Mexico.
The Australian started the Brazil weekend one point behind Norris and showed better pace at Interlagos, but that counted for little as he crashed out of Saturday morning’s sprint race and only managed fourth in qualifying while Norris claimed back-to-back poles.
But Piastri is now convinced that his specific driving style troubles from Austin and Mexico are behind him and that while Brazil has thrown a different set of challenges his way, he still has what it takes to defeat Norris by December’s Abu Dhabi season finale.
“I think in Austin and Mexico there were clearly some things to learn and just some things that I wasn’t very naturally comfortable with that I had to adapt to,” said Piastri, who now trails Norris by nine points courtesy of the latter’s sprint win.
“This weekend, certainly yesterday, things felt much more normal. From the first lap of practice I felt comfortable, the lap time was coming easily. Today was a little bit more tricky in terms of the conditions and just trying to get everything out of it, but I don’t think there’s been the same issues this weekend.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Miguel Schincariol / AFP via Getty Images
“I’ve still got the belief that I can go out and win races and win the championship but obviously things are not coming as easy as I’d like at the moment.”
Piastri shipped an additional six points to Norris after crashing out of third in the 24-lap sprint, having lost his car over the wet inside kerb through Turn 3, a fate that also befell Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto behind him.
Explaining the incident, he said: “I used [the kerb] a little bit the lap before and had no problems with it.
“Looking back, a couple of guys ahead also used it and potentially put a bit more water where I went. I probably shouldn’t have been on the kerb anyway, but the track was in a different state than the lap before as well and clearly I wasn’t the only one that got caught out by that.
“Again, I probably shouldn’t have been on the kerb, but a bit unfortunate that the consequences were so high.”
Photos from Sao Paulo GP – Sprint Race
Sao Paulo GP – Saturday, in photos
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Sao Paulo GP – Saturday, in photos
Sao Paulo GP – Saturday, in photos
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