It was a flawless showing by Oscar Piastri in China last weekend, where he secured his first win of the 2025 campaign in what was only round two of this year’s championship. Overall, the Aussie had a terrific weekend, which has propelled him up the drivers’ standings, and he is being touted as an extremely strong championship contender.
As McLaren have clearly got the fastest package so far this season, both their drivers have race-winning machinery underneath and they have extracted the most out of it. Just like Piastri in China, Lando Norris won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix to establish the Woking outfit’s supremacy and solidified his claim for the title.
However, that first race — held in Piastri’s home city of Melbourne — did not go the 23-year-old’s way. While he was in a good position to try and take the win away from Norris, Piastri went off-track when the rain intensified at the Albert Park circuit. This mistake proved costly as he tumbled down the order and drove well to recover to P9.
Naturally, just after a week since that gut-wrenching loss, winning the Chinese Grand Prix was a significant moment of redemption for Piastri. And given it has also helped renew his hopes for a championship challenge, the Melbourne-born driver has clarity on how he is going to focus on the rest of the season.
“We’ve still got such a long way to go. We still have 22 races, so I am not too focused on that [the title challenge] just yet. Obviously, every point I can get, every trophy I can get is going to help that cause. So, that’s definitely the aim,” Piastri said in an interview on the Australian breakfast show Sunrise on Channel 7.
OSCAR PIASTRI ON SUNRISE ️ The F1 Driver joined Brekky Central to talk about his incredible win in China and his ambitions for the rest of the season.
WATCH SUNRISE FOR MORE | @7plus ☀️ pic.twitter.com/iyWE78UkzO
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 24, 2025
He did admit, though, that he lost a few points in Australia after making the costly mistake. However, the Chinese GP weekend did help the #81 driver gain a lot of the lost ground in the title race.
Besides the 25 points for his Grand Prix win, Piastri also got seven crucial points for finishing second in the sprint race that was held this past Saturday. On the other hand, his teammate and championship leader, Norris, managed just one point in the sprint race — which, coupled with his P2 finish in the Grand Prix, took his China points tally to 19.
As things stand, Piastri is only 10 points off Norris in the drivers’ championship standings. While he stands in fourth behind the likes of Max Verstappen and George Russell, the Aussie seems to be driving the best among the top four to take the lead in the standings as soon as possible.
Piastri confident for the Japanese GP
After learning his thoughts about a potential title challenge, the host asked Piastri if he was also aiming to win the next Grand Prix in Japan to make it back-to-back wins and gain some momentum in the season.
The 23-year-old was highly confident about pulling the same off, knowing that McLaren could still continue to be the benchmark of the field at the Japanese GP. He also stated how he likes the Suzuka circuit, as he also got his first F1 podium at that track in 2023.
“It’s a track that I’ve had decent success at before. I had my first podium there in F1. It’s a track I really enjoy. And I think we expect to be pretty competitive again as a team,” the Melbourne-born driver said.
The Japanese Grand Prix weekend could easily see another McLaren masterclass, as was the case in the first two races so far. The cooler weather conditions would certainly suit the MCL39, and given Piastri and Norris’ strong qualifying form, locking out the front row again on a narrow Suzuka circuit could help them secure another 1-2 finish.
However, there is another factor of rainy weather that could throw a curveball at the McLaren duo. In wet weather conditions, it is quite likely that the likes of Verstappen and Russell will be more competitive, and this may spoil Piastri and Norris’ party.
