Nico Rosberg watched Oscar Piastri ‘struggle massively’ at last year’s Chinese Grand Prix, he’s now fixed that issue

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri will be delighted with how he responded to a disappointing start to the 2025 Formula 1 season.

Oscar Piastri should have at least two podium finishes to his name and potentially two victories were it not for his mistake at the Australian Grand Prix.

McLaren momentarily enforced team orders in Melbourne denying the Australian his chance to try and overtake Lando Norris.

A mistake in the rain meant he had to settle for P9 but he made up for that by dominating the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

Only Lewis Hamilton denied him taking maximum points after his win in the Sprint Race but the Australian controlled Sunday’s Grand Prix perfectly.

Damon Hill was blown away by Piastri after he took the first F1 pole position of his career and he controlled the race from start to finish ahead of Norris and Mercedes driver George Russell.

Nico Rosberg criticised Oscar Piastri last season after the race in Shanghai, pointing out how poor his tyre management was.

Sunday’s race has proved that the Australian has taken important steps forward in that area while Piastri is also improving his qualifying pace which was a concern at the end of last year.

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Oscar Piastri addresses Nico Rosberg criticism after winning the Chinese Grand Prix

Rosberg was commentating for Sky Sports F1 last season and after watching Piastri come home in P8 nearly a minute behind winner Max Verstappen, he said: “That is exactly what we need to talk about, that’s 1.5 seconds slower per lap from Oscar Piastri, so he’s still struggling massively with his tyre degradation and the way he’s driving.

“That’s too much after what 15 laps to be 1.5 seconds per lap slower is too much.

“He needs to progress there, he’s still doing something very different and it’s not looking good.”

Piastri was more than 40 seconds behind Norris that day and lost time due to his inability to keep the tyres fresh.

Martin Brundle criticised Pirelli for the changes they made to the tyres for the Grand Prix but it meant Piastri had to make a one-stop strategy work if he wanted to win the race.

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Oscar Piastri has proven he’s world championship material with Chinese Grand Prix display

Piastri had a few question marks still surrounding his world championship credentials heading into this season.

He was easily beaten in his qualifying head-to-head against Norris last year and that left him vulnerable to slightly slower strategies as a result.

As Rosberg mentioned, Piastri also struggled to keep his tyres in optimum condition at times and this limited his options in some races when strategies had to be adapted on the fly.

However, he’s now gone some way to dismissing both of these worries during the first two races of the year.

His race starts have also been impeccable over the past 12 months, seeing off George Russell in Shanghai and on several occasions – such as Hungary and Monza last year – getting the better of Norris.

McLaren potentially have two title challengers this year and it’s up to Andrea Stella and Zak Brown to make sure they don’t sabotage each other over the next 22 races.