Formula 1: Oscar Piastri’s driver’s world championship hopes boosted by McLaren promise
Oscar Piastri’s dwindling Formula 1 world title hopes have received a boost after McLaren’s promise to give both he and championship leading teammate Lando Norris an equal shot at glory.
Britain’s cheerleading motor racing media won’t be happy about this.
But Aussie sports fans will be absolutely delighted, along with every other fair-minded Formula One fan who agrees that world championships should be decided by merit, not the country listed on people’s passports.
Accused of favouring England’s Lando Norris over Australia’s Oscar Piastri, McLaren have promised both their drivers that they will get the same opportunity to win the world title as the series heads back to the Middle East.
“The team is united and fully focused on giving Lando and Oscar the best car for Qatar, a circuit that has technical characteristics that should suit our package,” McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said.
“With two races to go, both deserve the chance to fight for the title.”
An Italian, Andrea was just repeating his team’s message throughout the entire year, but with the finish line in sight and the pressure building, it’s never been more important to shout it from the mountain top.
Norris is already in the box seat to win his first world championship, leading Piastri and Max Verstappen by 24 points with a maximum of 58 remaining from the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
But that’s not what the pommy press wants to hear. It’s no secret they want McLaren to order Piastri to sacrifice his own aspirations to give Norris a free ride to the title, because they’re terrified Verstappen will pip the Englishman on the last lap.
The Brits have never warmed to Verstappen since the Dutchman denied Lewis Hamilton a record-breaking eighth world title, when he beat him in the title decider at Abu Dhabi in 2021.
And they don’t care for Aussies much either because the race director for that momentous Grand Prix was Sydney-born Michael Masi. Last week’s humiliation in the Ashes has only added to the desperation for Norris to win.
As one British scribe wrote this week: “Asking Piastri to move aside would end his own hopes, but it would also give Norris more of a buffer. It would be silly not to enact this. McLaren need as little pressure on their lead driver as possible.”
Mercifully, McLaren aren’t bowing to the demands of Fleet St, even after the team suffered a double disqualification in Las Vegas last weekend over a technical infringement.
“What happened in Las Vegas won’t change our approach to this weekend,” Stella said.
“The mindset that brought us two Constructors’ titles and two drivers in the fight for the Championship stays the same: push to the limit and maximise our potential.
“Painful moments are part of our sport, but they also make you learn and become stronger. We’ve analysed everything, improved, and moved on.”
The glimmer of hope for Piastri is that the return to the Middle East should help him get back in the groove after he performed poorly during the past four rounds in the Americas.
The double disqualification offered some partial help to Piastri, though not much. While his deficit to Norris was trimmed from 30 to 24, his 12 point lead over Verstappen was entirely wiped away.
To have any hope of winning the title in Abu Dhabi, Piastri can’t concede more than one more point to Norris in Qatar. In reality, the Australian needs to finish ahead of Norris in both the shortened sprint and full-length 57-lap Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit and hope his teammate makes a mistake.
The Australian is at his best on baking hot surfaces that offer higher grip, enabling drivers to take corners at high speeds without fear of sliding off, but he struggled on the low grip circuit in the United States, Mexico and Brazil.
Piastri won this season’s Grands Prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and has a strong record in the Arabian peninsula. In his two previous F1 visits to Qatar, in 2023 and 2024, he won the sprint race both times and twice finished on the podium in the main race.
Norris was 10th in Qatar last year while Verstappen has won the last two races there.
“This is one of my favourite circuits on the calendar, and I have great memories around this track, especially my first win in F1 in the 2023 sprint,” Piastri said.
“It’s fast and flowing, has lots of medium and high-speed sections and is good for overtaking. I’m looking forward to both races and the chance to get on the front foot.”
The wildest comebacks in F1 history that give Piastri hope
The critics and the doubters have already given up on him but Oscar Piastri still has a genuine shot at winning this year’s Formula One world championship.
Admittedly the Aussie battler will need a quick turn of luck after blowing a 34 point lead to slip 24 points behind his cocky British teammate Lando Norris in the standings, but don’t rule that out.
If there’s one thing that this season - and plenty of other F1 years have proven - it is that motorsport’s fastest and most glamorous category remains a wild and unpredictable beast where anything can and often does happen.
The 2025 season has already been jam-packed with unexpected twists and turns so with a maximum 58 points still available from the two remaining rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, which includes a sprint race, Piastri has got every reason to keep his chin up and his foot flat to the boards.
If Piastri needs any inspiration, he doesn’t need to look too far in his rearview mirror because F1 has a colourful history full of shock comebacks where drivers have defied the sceptics to win the biggest prize in their sport.
A dozen drivers have already come back from the brink to win the championship in the final round, with some overcoming bigger deficits than the one Piastri is facing right now, so he’s still in there with a chance.
2010
With two rounds to go Sebastian Vettel was sitting fourth in the championship standings and looking like a lost cause after his engine blew up while he was leading the South Korean Grand Prix. He trailed Fernando Alonso by 25 points with only 50 left. He won the second last race but was still in third spot heading into the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. Incredibly, Vettel won that to claim his first world title as Alonso finished seventh.
2007
Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen was trailing Lewis Hamilton by 17 points with two rounds to go under the old points scoring system when drivers got 10 for a win (these days they get 25). Raikkonen was still in third spot heading into the last race but managed to win the title by a point over both Hamilton and his McLaren teammate Alonso.
1999
McLaren’s defending champion Mika Hakkinen fell four points behind Ferrari’s Eddie Irvine heading into the last race. Hakkinen won the race and with it the title, by just two points, when Irvine finished third, behind his teammate Michael Schumacher.
1997
One of the most controversial finishes to any F1 season. Runner up the previous year, Jacques Villeneuve lost his championship lead in the penultimate race when he was disqualified for ignoring a yellow flag during qualifying. Schumacher went into the series finale leading by point and led most of the race. But when Villeneuve caught up to him and tried to pass, the German deliberately rammed him into. Schumacher damaged his own car and retired while Villeneuve limped on to finish third and claim the title. Schumacher was later stripped of second spot in the standings.
1976
This was so wild Hollywood made a movie about this season, called Rush. This was the year Niki Lauda was almost burnt alive after he crashed at the German Grand Prix and his car burst into flames. He miraculously survived then defied the orders of his doctors to return to the cockpit for the last four races. He retired in the final race after complaining that it was too dangerous to drive because of the rain, which allowed Hunt to overtake him for the title by a single point.
1986
Frenchman Alain Prost was in third place, 11 points behind Britain’s Nigel Mansell with two races to go. He was still six points behind and in second spot before the last race, at Adelaide. Mansell was on course to win the title when his left rear tyre exploded without any warning, forcing him to retire as Prost went on to win the race and the title.
1983
Prost led the championship standings from the first race to the last only to lose it right at the end. Nelson Piquet was third with two races to go and was one of three drivers in contention at the last race. He only finished third but claimed the title because his two rivals both retired with engine failures.
1981
The father of Verstappen’s partner Kelly, Piquet was second behind Carlos Reutemann in each of the last two races. He won the title by a single point after finishing fifth in both races because Reutemann failed to score at all.
1974
Emerson Fittipaldi became the first McLaren driver to win the championship when he came from behind to beat Switzerland’s Clay Regazzoni.
1964
Three drivers were in contention to win the title heading into the final race. Britain’s John Surtees was in second place, five points behind Graham Hill, but got the chocolates when he finished second and Hill placed 11th.
1956
Peter Collins led the title standings with two races to go but was overhauled by Juan Manuel Fangio, one of the sport’s all time guests.
1950
In a sign of what was to come, the very first F1 championship finished with a thriller. Three drivers had the chance to win heading into the last race.
Italy’s Nino Farina was in third but took the checkered flag to claim the inaugural world title after his biggest rival Fangio broke down with a gearbox problem.
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Originally published as Formula 1: Oscar Piastri’s driver’s world championship hopes boosted by McLaren promise
Piastri fuming as McLaren blunder dents F1 title hopes
