Retired Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya said that Oscar Piastri has “the most to prove next season” after claiming that the Australian fell short of his teammate Lando Norris in 2024.
The former McLaren race winner claimed that he was surprised with Piastri’s performance this season, not being able to match Norris’ qualifying feats.
In a season where McLaren launched themselves to the top of the tables, Montoya expected both papaya drivers to be in the fight for the title.
Montoya told LuckyBlock: “Oscar Piastri is the driver with the most to prove next season.
“I really expected him to step up this year and I am a little surprised he didn’t.
“I really felt that this year he would be better than Lando, but Lando took a massive step forward and Oscar didn’t.”
The Australian driver managed to secure his maiden victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix in dramatic fashion, and earned a second victory in Azerbaijan.
However, Piastri failed to take the fight directly to his teammate and fell short of Norris in points, race results, and qualifying results.
Norris beat Piastri in 2024 head-to-heads
Although Piastri snagged two race victories and eight podiums to land a P4 finish in the drivers’ standings, he lost the qualifying head-to-head 20-4 against Norris.
Norris managed to score more points than his teammate, two more race wins, and 16 better race results in addition to the 20 better qualifying results.
In what became a glorious comeback year for McLaren, Piastri fell short of his more experienced teammate this season.
Despite Piastri’s consistency during races, Montoya admitted to being surprised at the head-to-head comparisons this year.
Several drivers including seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton have admitted to struggling during qualifying and Piastri has been one of them.
The young driver has just finished his second full season in F1 and contributed to securing McLaren’s first constructors’ title in 26 years.
In 2025 Piastri will be expected to prove his spot on a championship-winning team, hopefully taking the fight a bit closer to his teammate Norris.
Still, with a career in F1 just two seasons young, Piastri’s progression has been consistently on an upward trajectory and he knows where he needs to improve next term.
“The biggest one has been leaving a few too many positions on the table in qualifying,” Piastri said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really made life easy for myself in the races, in that aspect.
“So, I think that’s definitely the big focus of the off-season, just trying to get those last hundredths, last tenths.”
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