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Oscar Piastri races himself into F1 championship contention with blistering start

Oscar Piastri races himself into F1 championship contention with blistering start
Scuderia Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain in Parc ferme following the sprint race at the Miami International Autodrome in Miami Gardens, Florida, 03 May 2025. The 2025 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix is held at the Miami International Autodrome on 04 May. EPA-EFE/SHAWN THEW
Yanga Sibembe
By Yanga Sibembe
6 May 2025
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Not many people would have picked Oscar Piastri as their favourite for the 2025 Formula One title, with his McLaren teammate Lando Norris backed by most people and reigning champion Max Verstappen also part of the conversation.

For many followers of Formula One, the battle for world domination on four wheels in 2025 belonged to two drivers — McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen. In the opening race of the season, in Australia, the pair further fuelled these assertions when they finished first and second respectively.  

Since that opening race of the season, it has been Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri who has hogged the headlines. Ironically, the Australian driver had finished a lowly ninth on home soil. The momentum has shifted drastically in his favour though.

Piastri in pole position 


With his victory in the main race of the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, 4 May 2025, Piastri made it three consecutive race wins. In the process, he became the first McLaren driver since Mika Häkkinen (1997/98) to win three successive races. More importantly, he stretched his lead in the championship standings to 16 points over second-placed Norris

Piastri’s success at the Miami International Autodrome propelled him to six Formula One career wins in his third season driving in the elite level competition. In the six rounds of racing so far, Piastri has won four races.

In two months of racing, the Australian has doubled the tally he had initially managed since making his top-flight debut in 2023. In that season, he was named Rookie of the Year, and he has grown exponentially since then.

Nevertheless, he came into the 2025 season further down the pecking order of favourites, but his blistering start to the season has shoved him into the frame.

Despite initially not being part of the championship conversation as much as Norris and Verstappen before the season commenced, Piastri had backed himself to be the main character this campaign.

Last season’s gains


Although he finished fourth overall in 2024, Piastri played a pivotal part in McLaren clinching a first constructors’ championship since 1998, his eight podium placings were vital for the team snapping this drought of more than two decades.

“That’s certainly what I’m hoping to go and fight for. It depends on how we start the season and how the car is through the year. Last year, it took us a few races to find our feet. Hopefully, we can be a little bit better from the beginning of this season,” Piastri said in March.  

“Definitely, I’m going in with the hope and ambition to fight for the drivers’ title and to help the team retain the constructors’ title. With the season we’ve just had, it would be silly to aim for anything less,” the 24-year-old said.

In spite of these ambitions prior to the engines being started for 2025, even Piastri could not have dreamt of such an assertive start considering the competition he faces.

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia during the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix on 4 May 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Cristobel Herrera-Ulashkevich)



Scuderia Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain. (Photo: EPA-EFE/Shawn Thew)



It’s true that it is still early in the season, but accumulating points at this point could be beneficial for Piastri in case he drops off in a few months. Especially because his teammate Norris will not be too pleased with his own performances to date. Regardless, Piastri aims to keep improving, too.  

“I did a lot of things right today, but there was definitely some good fortune there as well, and a very quick car. I don’t want to rely on that every single Sunday,” Piastri said after his win in Miami.

His calm and collected demeanour will serve him well as his rivals chase him down.

Legendary struggles 


A rider who the Australian is unlikely to be perturbed by is seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. The Briton’s start to life at Ferrari has been frustrating.

Hamilton has managed just one top-five finish so far this season, and the Miami Grand Prix left him particularly seething as he threw a jab at his team for a delayed response for a request to overtake teammate Charles Leclerc.

“Have a tea break while you’re at it,” Hamilton said sarcastically over the radio while the Ferrari bosses deliberated his request.

For some Formula One followers and Hamilton the dream was clear. It was for Hamilton to become the most successful driver in Formula One history, leaving behind the legendary Michael Schumacher, with whom the 40-year-old is tied on seven world titles. It has not panned out as planned — far from it.

“We’ve got problems with brakes; we’ve got problems with this instability that we’re struggling with. We’re just generally not quick enough — just to get into Q3 is tough for us at the moment. And once you’re on the back foot, it’s hard to pick up those points,” Hamilton said.

His decision to join Ferrari was made more with heart than head, but if the Italian team can fix some of these issues, he still has enough time to vindicate himself, even if the dream of title number eight is dead and buried for this season. DM   

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