Why Oscar Piastri is Probably 2025's F1 World Champion

Max Verstappen just gave Oscar Piastri a huge compliment:

“Last year it was his second year, now of course he’s in his third year and he’s very solid. He’s very calm in his approach and I like that, and I think it shows also on track. He delivers when he has to deliver, barely makes any mistakes.”

Max Verstappen (reddit)

When a three-time world champion speaks this highly of a rival, it’s worth paying attention. But why is Piastri’s driving style getting such high praise not just from Max, but from so many people across the paddock?

As a driver myself, there are aspects of Oscar’s technique that genuinely stand out. Let’s break down what makes Piastri’s driving style and, frankly his whole demeanour so impressive, and how he’s closed the gap to his teammate Lando Norris.

Braking: The Most Critical Skill

Let’s start with how he slows the car down – Oscar’s brake technique – the most important part of being able to put in a fast lap time. It’s an area where other World Champions like Schumacher, Hamilton and Verstappen all stand out.

Slowing an F1 car down from flat out to what feels like zero is a very difficult thing to perfect. There’s a lot of moving targets: when you first get on the brakes, there’s maximum grip, but as you slow down, that grip (because of the loss of aero) falls away.

As a driver on the brakes, you have to perfectly match this reducing grip – and that’s not easy to do. Add to that changing wind speed and direction, and not knowing exactly how warm your tyres are after a very long straight, and you have a big challenge in an area where you can make or lose a lot of time.

What components on an F1 car contribute to downforce? — What components on the car contribute to downforce? (Image Source: Willem Toet)

But Oscar is very good in these big braking zones. We saw this in qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix, where he nailed that hairpin. At the Chinese GP hairpin, Piastri braked at about 105 metres, but had he braked just 10 metres earlier, he would have lost almost a tenth of a second in that corner alone.

This late braking allows Oscar to drive a more V-shaped racing line, where he slows the car down deeper into the corner, rotates it more sharply, and then straightens the exit to allow him to get on the power earlier and harder – a style very similar to Schumacher and Verstappen.

This differs somewhat from his teammate Norris, who typically favours a more U-shaped approach – smoother, more progressive turning with a higher minimum corner speed. It’s neither right nor wrong, just different approaches.

A U shaped racing line vs a V shaped racing line

Adaptability: The Mark of a Complete Driver

What’s really impressive about Piastri’s driving style is not just the driving technique – it’s his adaptability. When needed, he’ll switch to a more flowing U-shaped approach, showing versatility which is the mark of a well-rounded and very fast racing driver. Basically, he can get the most out of the car in all different conditions.

If you take a look at his steering inputs, they’re precise, measured and very composed. While detailed telemetry isn’t publicly available, his throttle control appears to be very refined, which is particularly important for tyre management – an area where he’s made massive steps forward.

Team Principal Andrea Stella has also noted this evolution, saying: “It’s also the technicalities around the driving style. I’ve seen Oscar evolving from a driving point of view, and this is ultimately what makes the difference. If you are capable of pulling all these aspects together when it counts and the car is competitive, then you can pull off this sort of performance.”

Tyre Management: From Weakness to Strength

During the last two seasons, tyre management was widely thought of as one of Piastri’s main weaknesses, but the progress he’s made has been significant and quite quick.

Even at the end of last season, Piastri said:

“I feel like I know much more proactively what I need to do to manage the tyres now, which you kind of have to learn the hard way through experience, which could be quite painful.”

He added that the improvement was “night and day” compared to his rookie year, although he hadn’t yet fully mastered it. However, just a few months on from this statement, it seems like he might have done.

The last few Grand Prix have given clear evidence of this progress. On a Shanghai circuit notorious for front tyre graining, Piastri experienced much less degradation than Norris. This big shift in his tyre management skill has been crucial in allowing Piastri to convert strong qualifying performances into consistent race results.

Calm Yet Aggressive: The Perfect Balance

During races, Piastri is calm yet aggressive, which as a racing driver is a formidable combination. When asked if he was ruthless enough to win a world championship, he responded:

“Yeah, I think so. Just because I’m calm doesn’t mean that I’m not ruthless. It doesn’t have to come at the expense of being calm and a nice person as well.”

Having this calm mindset isn’t just about feeling confident – it directly impacts consistency. When drivers get flustered, they make lots of small errors that compound, and Piastri rarely does this.

He’s also said to have a lot of mental capacity. He’s able to drive quickly, stay calm, and think about other things like race strategy and how the car’s handling. In fact, Andrea Stella has highlighted Piastri’s capacity, talking about his ability to provide specific technical feedback. This level of analytical precision gives engineers exactly what they need to make the car faster, leading to quality setup changes that play to his strengths.

While some drivers give somewhat more emotional feedback, Piastri remains clinical and focused on the solution.

Championship Material?

So where does all this leave us? Will Piastri genuinely challenge for the F1 championship?

While he didn’t enter F1 with the immediate impact of Verstappen, Piastri has built his performance methodically and seems to be laying solid foundations that bode very well for his future.

The significant thing for me is his mentality. The combination of calmness under pressure, decisive racecraft, complete control over the car, and a remarkably low error rate is the profile of a genuine championship-winning driver. What’s particularly impressive is how systematically he’s found and improved upon his weaknesses.

Is it too early to say that he’s going to win the championship? Perhaps yes – we’re only a fraction of the way into the season. But if the McLaren stays the fastest car and Norris continues to struggle to adapt, there’s a strong case that Oscar is now the most complete package.

His trajectory suggests that he’s still improving, still finding pace, still refining his craft – and that’s what makes his challenge so credible and potentially so dangerous for his competitors. He definitely has the pace needed to win an F1 championship – that much is clear in both qualifying and race trim. Whether he’ll achieve this in 2025 remains to be seen.