Ex-F1 Driver Identifies Oscar Piastri’s Mighty Edge Over Lando Norris

Lando Norris, who entered 2025 as the championship favorite, kicked off the campaign with a win. But since then, his title charge has begun to unravel.

His form has dipped, with shades of 2024 resurfacing as the Briton continued to make costly mistakes—losing positions in qualifying and valuable points on race day. Meanwhile, his teammate Oscar Piastri has looked flawless. Interestingly, it was Piastri who stumbled in the opening round, finishing P9. But since then, the Aussie has bounced back impressively, winning three of the last four races.

Norris’ disastrous outing in Saudi Arabia—crashing out in Q3 and finishing fourth—handed the championship lead to Piastri, who now sits 10 points ahead.

So, what’s gone wrong for Norris? Former F1 driver and current analyst Jolyon Palmer recently shared his thoughts.

According to the ex-Renault driver, who started 35 races for the Enstone-based squad, Piastri holds the edge over Norris in two areas: qualifying and mindset. “Qualifying has been the deal breaker. Qualifying is where the races have been won really,” the former Renault driver said on the F1 Nation podcast.

Palmer highlighted how Norris had outqualified Piastri 20-4 last season, but in 2025, the tables have started to turn—Piastri now leads 3-2 after the first five rounds. It appears the Melbourne-born driver has begun to overcome what was once his biggest weakness against his teammate.

Norris, meanwhile, has struggled. At times, he hasn’t even come close to matching Piastri. Alongside his crash in Jeddah, he could only manage P6 in Bahrain qualifying, with Piastri going on to dominate from pole the very next day.

Palmer then discussed Piastri’s impressive mentality, an aspect that has earned praise from several pundits this season.

“I like his mentality. We kind of saw it a bit last year, some of the racing that he put in—Monza, in Baku—where he got the win or second in Monza. But he’s just so chill, isn’t he? He’s so ruthless, calm, calculated.” 

“If he’s got the one-lap pace, he’s also got the mentality to execute on race day, and that’s what we’ve seen so far,” he added.

Piastri certainly seems to be in a stronger headspace, especially as Norris has made a few worrying comments about his own form.

After qualifying only P6 in Bahrain, Norris admitted, “I feel like I’ve just never driven an F1 car before.” He also confessed that he felt like the weak link, saying McLaren had given him an outstanding car and he had no real complaints.

Now, with F1 enjoying a short break after the recent triple-header, Norris will be hoping to reset and return to form at this weekend’s Miami GP—a race where he claimed his maiden F1 victory just a year ago.