“You’re a Harsh Woman”: Natalie Pinkham ‘Called Out’ for Grilling Oscar Piastri Over Costly Mistake in Australia

Five rounds into the 2025 season, Oscar Piastri has emerged as the early favorite for the Drivers’ Championship, pulling ahead of teammate Lando Norris, who was widely tipped to lead the charge before the campaign began.

Norris has admitted that his pursuit of perfection is holding him back. He noted that he performs better when he’s enjoying himself, but chasing flawlessness is leading to mistakes that are hurting his title hopes.

Piastri, on the other hand, stated in a recent interview that perfection is impossible in F1. According to him, the key is to relentlessly aim for it, even if it’s out of reach—an approach that has helped him minimize errors. His only major mistake came at the season opener in Australia.

Piastri ascending

Our championship leader is already on-course to have the greatest season of his life, and we still have 19 rounds to go!#F1 @OscarPiastri pic.twitter.com/0smD89UsMt

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 29, 2025

Since then, he’s won three of the last four races. Interestingly, presenter Natalie Pinkham pointed out Piastri’s home-race error on the F1 Nation Podcast. 

Host Tom Clarkson praised Piastri for his consistency, noting that what has been most impressive about the young driver is his ability to avoid mistakes. However, Natalie Pinkham quickly reminded him of Piastri’s error in Albert Park, which cost him a place and dropped him from P2 to P9.

“You say he hasn’t made any mistakes,” Pinkham responded. “There was a mistake, perhaps out of his control, in Australia, which had much bigger consequences than the slight mistake Lando made. Obviously, he tumbled down to ninth; otherwise, he’d have been leading the championship sooner.”

Clarkson, however, couldn’t understand why Pinkham would blame Piastri for an incident she admitted might have been out of his control. “Oh, you’re a harsh woman,” he replied.

The Briton further explained that Norris had made the same mistake in Melbourne as both he and Piastri “hit that puddle.” The key difference, however, was the result: while Norris managed to hold on and claim the win, Piastri’s race was effectively ruined as he fell down the order.

Realizing she may have been a bit harsh in her assessment, Pinkham quickly softened her stance, saying, “He was a bit unlucky. All right, all right.” She then clarified that her point was simply that Piastri would have been leading the standings much sooner if he had managed to hold onto second place in Melbourne.

Piastri himself was quick to take responsibility for his mistake at Albert Park, admitting right after the race, “I’ve only got myself to blame. I tried to push too much in those conditions.”

Oscar Piastri’s mistake when the mid-race rain hit took him out of podium contention, eventually finishing P9

He feels he only has himself to blame for the incident ️ #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/SOHe91rs5V

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 16, 2025

However, he then shifted focus to the positives, adding, “But the other 56 and three-quarters laps were very strong.”

Perhaps Norris could take a similar approach—stopping his self-criticism and looking at the bigger picture if he wants to get back in form and fight for the championship.