Oscar Piastri makes his feelings known about why McLaren is not looking at a Red Bull or Max Verstappen-style dominance in 2025
Oscar Piastri does not expect McLaren to dominate the 2025 season in the way Red Bull and Max Verstappen did in previous years. Speaking in a press conference ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, the Melbourne-born driver felt it would be unrealistic to anticipate such a scenario given the stable regulations.
With performance converging across the grid, the competitive order has tightened. While Red Bull enjoyed two years of dominance, 2024 saw a significant shift as McLaren and Ferrari caught up, ultimately dethroning the Milton Keynes squad in the constructors’ championship. Despite this, Verstappen’s consistency and precision saw hin clinch a fourth successive drivers’ title.
Oscar Piastri believes that while every top team aims for dominance, the current regulations and performance landscape make it unlikely. He expects the 2025 season to be even more competitive than the second half of 2024 when three teams were in contention for the championship. While circumstances could always favor a single driver or team, he reckons sustained dominance will be much harder to achieve.
When asked if McLaren could replicate a Red Bull or Verstappen-styled dominance in 2025, Oscar Piastri said:
“No, I don't think so. Obviously, that would be ideal—to try and have that level of success and competitiveness. I think that’s what every team dreams of and what every driver dreams of. But at this point in the regulations, with how last season went, expecting that is incredibly naive. I think this season is going to be just as tight, if not even tighter, than the second half of last year especially."
"So yeah, of course, that’s what we want to aim for, but we have a new set of rules coming next year, and that's probably going to change the pecking order quite a bit—or at least the gaps quite a bit. So I don't think it's the same circumstances. But also, I think this year is going to be an incredibly competitive year of F1. As much as I would like to try and have that level of success, I think it's going to be very, very tough," he added.
Oscar Piastri feels McLaren had a positive Friday ahead of the 2025 Australian GP
Oscar Piastri found McLaren’s performance in Friday’s free practice sessions encouraging. The Melbourne-born driver finished fourth in FP1 and second in FP2. The driver acknowledged there were still areas to improve but felt the underlying pace was strong, suggesting a positive weekend ahead.
Speaking in a team press statement after the Free Practice sessions in Melbourne, Oscar Piastri said:
“It was a productive first day back for us, and it was pretty encouraging. We’ve still got some things to work on, but the pace was there. We’ve tried a few different things and gathered some good information, the car feels different to last year but that’s pretty normal. I am excited to see what we can do tomorrow – it’s been a pretty positive first day.”
No local driver has ever won the Australian Grand Prix in Formula 1 history yet, with both Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber coming close but falling short of victory in Melbourne. Piastri came fourth at the Albert Park circuit last year and will be eager to end that streak this weekend.
The 23-year-old produced some impressive performances in 2024 and finished fourth in the F1 World Championship with 292 points to her name, winning two races at the Hungarian GP and the Azerbaijan GP. Additionally, he was also the runner-up in four races, namely, the Monaco GP, the Austrian GP, the Belgian GP and the Italian GP.