It was a near flawless Chinese Grand Prix for Oscar Piastri as the Aussie stated his title ambitions with victory in Shanghai.
After taking pole position in Saturday’s qualifying, it was a clear road for the number 81 who rarely appeared challenged at all during the Grand Prix.
Callum Davis writes that Oscar Piastri could be the one to beat in 2025:
A Worrying Dominance?
It was a statement of intent, similar to that of teammate Lando Norris last weekend.
The difference between the two comes in the calmness and serenity of the way Piastri took his victory in comparison to Norris last week.
Whilst that is understandable given the conditions and factors that played a role in the Australian Grand Prix weekend, it was frantic at times from Norris.
That chaotic nature of sorts carried on into the Chinese Grand Prix. Whilst Oscar Piastri led the way, Norris’ brake issue led to increasingly stressful team radios and Norris ignoring the instructions from his engineers.
In fact it wasn’t until the very end seemingly, that Norris reacted to his brakes failing.
Now undoubtedly, a brake pedal going long on a F1 car is quite a stressful situation, but the panicked nature of Norris at just round two of the season poses questions.
How will he cope when the season gets heated?
Oscar Piastri – The Zen Driver
The standings make for good reading for McLaren, better for Norris still.
The Brit leads the way, ahead of Max Verstappen by eight points.
The Dutchman has just the single points advantage over George Russell, who himself has just a points advantage over Oscar Piastri.
If it wasn’t for a slightly soggy turn 12 at Melbourne, a 2nd place finish in his home race would have been enough for the Aussie to be leading the World Drivers’ Championship.
Whilst a championship is all hypotheticals, and ifs, buts, and maybes, it shows that Piastri seriously is a contender for the F1 Drivers’ Championship this season.
Speaking after the race to F1 TV, Piastri says he was “very, very happy.”
“It’s obviously exactly the kind of result we wanted, not just for myself but for the whole team.”
“I think that was probably the least emotional win but the most satisfying for sure.”
“I’m very proud of the whole team. We had a lot of things we had to tackle this weekend with the car and we did a really good job, and I think I did a really good job as well.”
That lack of emotion in the win shows a key transition from an ambitious driver, to a skilled and matured one.
That’s a transition you feel that Oscar Piastri has mastered, whilst Lando Norris is still yet to ace it.
Can McLaren Afford a Title Fight?
All the discussion about McLaren’s 2025 ambition was whether it could afford to have both drivers fighting for the championship.
On current findings, it appears that the McLaren has much more superior pace than all of their rivals.
Should that pace continue for the rest of this season, or at least the first half of it, McLaren can certainly enjoy having a major battle on their hands.
It’s mouth-wateringly exciting having two teammates fight it out for a Drivers’ World Championship, something not seen in F1 for nearly a decade when Hamilton and Rosberg once did battle.
As long as it’s kept clean on track, McLaren certainly are the ones to beat.
If Oscar Piastri can replicate his Chinese Grand Prix performance again in Japan, he’ll be the one to beat this season.