Oscar Piastri reveals ruthless mentality behind F1 title charge after winning Miami Grand Prix

Australian Formula One star Oscar Piastri provided another reminder of his unfailing maturity as he outdrove and outwitted his older and more experienced rivals in Miami.

His awkward attempt at a “griddy” dance excluded, Australian Formula One star Oscar Piastri provided another reminder of his unfailing maturity as he outdrove and outwitted his older and more experienced rivals to win the Miami Grand Prix.

In a performance worthy of the world champion he’s tipped to soon become, Piastri made all the right moves in the cockpit of his McLaren to cruise to the sixth victory of his rapidly blossoming career and the fourth in six races this year.

In doing so, the 24-year-old from Melbourne extended his lead in the world drivers’ championship to 16 points over his McLaren teammate Lando Norris after the first quarter of the season.

With 18 races still to come, Piastri is understandably reluctant to talk up his chances of becoming the first Australian in 45 years to win the biggest prize in motorsport, joining Jack Brabham (1959, 1960, 1966) and Alan Jones in the pantheon of greats.

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But plenty of others are already raving about him because he’s shown again that he’s made of the right stuff, not only lightning fast behind the wheel but also cool as you like under pressure.

Already, it seems like the championship is a three-way shootout between Piastri, Norris and Max Verstappen, with the two McLarens currently holding a significant advantage over Red Bull, with Verstappen already 32 points adrift of the Australian after starting on pole position in Miami but only finishing fourth.

“We clearly know that we have our strengths. It’s always been close between us. It’s going to be a good battle,” Piastri said.

“There will be weekends where Lando is stronger, and weekends where I am stronger. We’re very aware of the fact that we want this success for as long as we’re at McLaren, which is a very long time for both of us.

“We’re aware there’s going to be a fight. We both want to become world champion, obviously. But we don’t just want one opportunity at this success. We want it for the next however many years, and that’s an important and an easy thing to keep in mind for us and the whole team.”

Oscar Piastri was all smiles after his victory in Miami

With almost three times as many F1 race starts under his belt than his younger teammate, Norris started the 2025 season as the odds-on title favourite but has quickly been surpassed by Piastri.

Starting second on the grid in Miami, two places ahead of Piastri, Norris blew his chances of winning the race when he aggressively tried to overtake Verstappen on the second turn and ran off the circuit, instantly slipping back to sixth spot.

The Englishman recovered to finish second but in a sport where the differences between winning and losing can be less than the time it takes to blink an eye, Norris only had himself to blame.

“What can I say? If I don’t go for it, people will complain. If I go for it, people complain,” Norris said.

“So you can’t win. It is the way it is with Max, it’s crash or don’t pass.”

Piastri drove a much smarter race, waiting patiently for his opportunities to come then taking them, though he was far from satisfied with how everything unfolded.

“This weekend was not my best. I was pretty frustrated with my performance,” he said.

“Ultimately, yes, I won the race this weekend, but I think the likelihood of winning many races (after) qualifying fourth is pretty low. I did a lot of things right, 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.”

A hard taskmaster, Piastri’s determination to always do better is one of the things that sets him apart.

While he celebrated his win with a dance - which he later revealed was part of an agreed lost bet with NFL star Justin Jefferson - everything else was all business, including his calculated overtakes on Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen to get to the front.

“It was not easy but I picked my moments when I needed to. I could tell that we had a lot of pace from the get-go today, and it was going to be a matter of when I got past, not if,” he said.

“But I wanted to do it as efficiently as I could because I knew once Lando got back behind me, he was going to be catching us a lot. I wanted to get through quickly but cleanly.

“I felt like I did a pretty good job of that, then built a gap. Maybe not the strongest second half of the race of my life, but I think building that gap and being quick at the right times was what I needed.”

Norris was left to rue what could have been.

There’s no question he has the speed and determination to win the championship but his critics have questioned whether he has the mental strength to match the likes of Piastri and Verstappen when the series moves to Europe and things really start to heat up.

“I did all I could. I tried the whole race basically until the very end,” Norris said.

“I kept belief the whole race, but Oscar’s driving well. He’s quick.”

Time will tell if Piastri remains too quick for Norris to catch because right now, everything still points to this being a year-long battle where the margin between the pair will remain razor thin.

As teammates and friends, there’s no secrets between the pair but it’s what happens when the stakes rise that will decide who will end up with the spoils.

“We know pretty much exactly how one another drives. We know our strong points, maybe some of our weaker points…but it goes both ways,” Piastri said.

“We both know we’ve got the same car..so nine times out of 10, whoever’s in front at the start is probably going to be in front at the end.”

Originally published as Oscar Piastri reveals ruthless mentality behind F1 title charge after winning Miami Grand Prix