Oscar Piastri has revealed he is going into the 2025 Formula 1 season with the mindset that he has to “improve across the board” amid his aspiration to be in title contention.
Having helped McLaren win a long-awaited Constructors’ Championship in the previous campaign, Piastri has now set his sights on individual success in the upcoming season.
McLaren’s showing in the recent pre-season test has indicated he will have the tools to realise that as the overriding consensus is that the side’s MCL39 is the quickest car.
However, Piastri’s potential title prospects will depend on whether he can overturn the considerable 80-point gap that existed to team-mate Lando Norris last time around.
Despite bagging his maiden victories in his sophomore F1 season, Piastri’s struggle to match the Briton when it came to one-lap pace left him on the back foot in the races.
Intriguingly, that represented a complete contrast to his debut campaign when race management was the distinguishable area where Norris tended to gain the upper hand.
Piastri has expressed that his overriding aim this season will be to replicate the sporadic promise that he has showcased on a more consistent basis than he’s managed to date.
Asked what he has to do this time around to beat Norris, Piastri told media including Motorsport Week: “I think to be honest across the two seasons I’ve had, the story’s been a little bit different. Obviously last season I think I made life difficult for myself in qualifying a lot of the year.
“But I felt like I improved myself as a driver in a lot of other areas and I was able to show what I’m capable of in a lot of other areas.
“So it’s about of course improving across the board. I think making sure I qualify a bit better is probably a higher priority.
“But I think there’s things that I can improve that will help me not just in qualifying but in general. So I think that’s what I need to do.
“I know that on the weekends where I get everything together and put my best foot forward that I can be the best out there.
“And it’s just about trying to make sure I put that best foot forward every time I’m on track.”
Piastri expecting close battle in 2025
With the leading quartet all exchanging victories in the closing five races in 2024, though, Piastri isn’t discounting the external threat that McLaren’s rivals could end up posing.
And with the margins expected to be closer than ever in the last season under this ruleset, the Australian suspects certain variables will dictate the pecking order at each race.
“I think 2013 at the end of that rules was not a particularly close season, so it’s not certain that it’s going to be tight, but I think everything is pointing in that direction,” he assessed.
“I think when you look at the back end of last season with how many different winners from different teams there were, it’s all pointing towards a very tight season.
“Going from track to track, you’re not going to know.
“Pretty much all of last year, we thought we would be in the mix for a win, but we didn’t really know who the main competitor was going to be for most of the season.
“It changed every week, so I’m expecting more of the same.
“We saw some people running into some trouble with upgrades and really trying to push the boundaries, so I think everyone is also wary of that.
“But I think it’s going to be a tough season for everyone from the front of the grid to the back end.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri hopes to uphold McLaren ‘values’ in potential Lando Norris F1 title battle
