Lando Norris might have had the edge in McLaren’s drivers’ championship campaign, but even Oscar Piastri’s 2024 season was impressive. Except for a few races, the Aussie driver was right up there to fight for wins and podiums and maximize his results.
Piastri did not have a single DNF throughout the season and was the only driver to do so. He also completed every single lap of the season, a rare record — as he is only the fourth driver after Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen to race every lap of a season.
Ted Kravitz brought this up on the Sky Sports F1 podcast with Piastri’s race engineer, Tom Stallard in their discussion panel. Stallard claimed that it was a “phenomenal” achievement for McLaren’s design office to have such superb reliability that they did not have any DNFs in 2024.
Only Norris had to retire from the Austrian GP owing to his crash with Verstappen. However, it wasn’t classified as an official DNF as the #4 driver had completed over 75% of the race distance.
As for Piastri, Stallard stated that given he is the only non-F1 champion to complete every lap of a season, he would want to correct that in 2025. Schumacher, Hamilton, and Verstappen registered this record when they won a championship at the end of the season.
Schumacher did it in 2002 which was the third year of Ferrari dominance. Hamilton‘s flawless run came in 2019, which was during his streak of four titles with Mercedes from 2017-2020. Meanwhile, Verstappen raced every lap of the 2023 season, when he blew the field apart with a uber-dominant season of 19 wins in 22 races.
Piastri looking to build on his promising 2024
Despite not challenging for the championship, Piastri had an excellent season with two Grand Prix wins to his name. That coupled with his multiple podium finishes ensured that McLaren managed to clinch their first Constructors’ championship in 26 years.
The Aussie driver has been improving with each passing race even though he’s in his sophomore year. Despite struggling at some tracks, he was able to squeeze out the best possible result, and this ability could come in handy in 2025 if he can polish up on his mistakes.
Next season could see McLaren take top billing, as their car has proved to be the most consistent one across the field in 2024. And if that is the case, Piastri isn’t sitting back as a wingman to Norris. The #81 driver has shown that he is not afraid to fight his teammate and get his gloves off to fight for the win and the championship.
However, Piastri will have to face more competition than just Norris. The Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are likely to be in contention at the front.
On top of that, the Red Bull in the hands of Verstappen, and Mercedes often coming good at certain tracks won’t make things easy for Piastri gunning for his maiden world title. Still, he has shown the ability to overcome these rivals and win the championship even ahead of Norris, who is being hyped up as the favorite for 2025.
