Oscar Piastri’s qualifying mastery powers his 2025 championship bid
Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool
Oscar Piastri has turned into a defining strength in 2025. With two pole positions and consecutive victories to open the new campaign, the Australian driver has transformed his qualifying pace—once a shortfall—into a key element of his championship bid.
The 24-year-old identified qualifying as a key area for improvement after a 2024 season where he often trailed his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris. Reflecting on his performance last December, Piastri admitted, “I think the reason [for underperforming] is qualifying. I think if I get my sights set and qualify in the right place, I'll make a lot of progress." His words have proven prophetic.
Just four races into the season, Piastri has already claimed his first two career pole positions, matching Norris in their head-to-head tally for 2025. This marks a stark departure from the prior year when Norris comprehensively outqualified Piastri 20-4.
Piastri’s improvement is evident in qualifying statistics. In 2024, he lagged behind Norris by an average of 0.176 seconds across circuits like Australia, China, Japan, and Bahrain. This year, the tables have turned—Piastri leads Norris by a margin of 0.202 seconds on average. The impact is clear: his average starting position has improved from 11.6th to 1.75th across the same tracks.
His performances haven’t just been faster; they’ve been more polished. Piastri’s focus and consistency on flying laps stand in stark contrast to Norris, who has struggled to adapt to the car and made costly errors in qualifying. Notably, Piastri has converted both his pole positions into victories, displaying a composed and mature racecraft to protect his starting advantage.
Piastri’s progress hasn’t gone unnoticed by his agent and compatriot, Mark Webber. Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast after the McLaren driver’s Bahrain win, Webber praised the Australian’s growth in the high-stakes realm of qualifying. “As a Formula 1 driver, it’s an important part of your profession,” Webber remarked. “Thanks to his intelligence and understanding of what he needs to improve, [his qualifying has] improved. But like I tell him, the day you retire is when you have the most experience, so you have to keep learning.”
Despite his early success, Piastri faces the challenge of maintaining this momentum throughout the season. In 2024, Norris dominated qualifying during the European stretch, winning 15-3 from Imola onward. But if Piastri can sustain his strong performances, he will firmly establish himself as a legitimate title contender. After four rounds, he trails Norris by just three points in the championship standings.
Piastri’s rapid development in 2025 has not only closed the gap to his teammate but positioned him as one of the grid’s rising stars—with the potential to achieve even greater heights as the season progresses.
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