It was a sublime drive from pole by Oscar Piastri at the Shanghai International Circuit to secure the Chinese GP victory—the third Grand Prix win of his career. He not only racked up a big haul of points to truly kickstart his 2025 season after his heartbreak in round one in Australia but also consolidated McLaren’s position atop the Constructors’ standings.
Piastri has been hoping to find his footing as a title contender this season, and so far, he seems to be performing as per the expectations he set. After his breakthrough season last year, the Australian racing ace has been fighting toe-to-toe with his teammate, Lando Norris.
Even though many consider Norris to be well clear of Piastri in terms of raw pace and consistency, the #81 driver has shut down those critics with his performances so far in 2025. In the three qualifying sessions in Australia and China [sprint weekend], Piastri has given Norris a close run for his money and beaten him twice—presumably overcoming his one-lap pace deficit.
Given how close the two drivers have been, McLaren also seem to be fine with drivers racing freely for the championship. Amid this, former F1 driver and Sky Sports F1 analyst, Karun Chandhok feels that Piastri is making his case stronger for a title fight by being almost perfect so far.
“Outstanding weekend…. Have to say that apart from one rainy corner on slick tyres in Melbourne @OscarPiastri has been close to perfect so far this season,” wrote the 41-year-old on X (formerly Twitter). The only reason Chandhok said ‘almost perfect’ is due to the Aussie’s gut-wrenching loss at the first race.
Outstanding weekend…. Have to say that apart from one rainy corner on slick tyres in Melbourne @OscarPiastri has been close to perfect so far this season! https://t.co/OsDBcrmdbU
— Karun Chandhok (@karunchandhok) March 23, 2025
Piastri‘s season-opening Australian GP didn’t go to plan after he had a late-race incident that relegated him to P9 at the chequered flag. The Melbourne-born driver was on course to becoming the first Aussie to stand on the podium at their home race when he went off at the penultimate corner at the Albert Park Circuit.
In fact, his teammate, Norris (who was leading the race and won it) did the same thing just moments before but was able to save his car, which Piastri couldn’t. Naturally, with Piastri now firmly in the title conversation, things could get heated within the Woking-based team.
An intra-team rivalry brewing at McLaren between Piastri and Norris?
In the cooldown room after the Chinese GP, Piastri jokingly made a reference to an intra-team spat between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel after the 2013 Malaysian GP. While his ‘Multi-21‘ comments might have been light-hearted, as the season unfolds, it could hold sinister undertones.
The 23-year-old looks at the peak of his powers, and if he wins the third round in Japan, Norris’ ‘title favorite’ label could be in jeopardy. Piastri has already staked his claim in the title fight, and Norris will be wary of giving too much respect and space to his teammate on track.
With McLaren refusing to deploy any team orders or designate a number one driver in the team, the title fight will unfold on track. And if history has taught us anything, these fights have a tendency to develop into a fierce and intense rivalry sooner rather than later.
