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Despite not claiming his first Formula 1 title at the end of the 2025 season, Damon Hill thinks Oscar Piastri has shown exactly why he will be a future world champion.
Oscar Piastri spent the most time at the top of the F1 standings out of the three championship protagonists in play during 2025.
In the end, Piastri’s mistakes cost him dearly, but it’s easy to forget that the recently concluded season was only his third year in the pinnacle of single-seater motorsports.
Max Verstappen emerged as a contender in the latter half of the year and made the Australian’s McLaren counterpart, Lando Norris, sweat in the final few rounds as he made a challenge for a fifth consecutive title.
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Damon Hill believes that Max Verstappen respects Oscar Piastri’s racecraft more than he does for Lando Norris
During a recent appearance on the Drive to Wynn podcast, Damon Hill discussed the differences between Piastri’s stature on the F1 grid compared to his teammates.
Host Justin Bell alluded to the fact that the Australian is a lot more decisive in his overtaking manoeuvres compared to Norris, saying, “Oscar Piastri, he’s Max-esque in that way.
“When he comes up behind someone to overtake, with all due respect to George and Lando, it’s like they send a telegram, whereas Max and Oscar just they just do it, don’t they?”
The 1996 F1 world champion then responded to the comments with, “They do. And I think Max recognises that Oscar will not hesitate.
“He won’t think twice. He arrives, and then he attacks; he just goes straight in there. That is one of his highest skills, that ability to be an aggressive and decisive overtaker.
“And in Saudi Arabia, do you remember what happened in Saudi Arabia? When they both started biffing each other, Max took to the escape road and then played silly buggers by not giving the place back or whatever.
“I don’t think Oscar’s particularly intimidated by that, and so I think there’s a little bit more respect. I do think you’re right, in that with Lando, it can be a little bit more circumspect and wary of Max, and Max knows that.”
Oscar Piastri’s driving style has been compared to Max Verstappen’s in the past
The 24-year-old was seen as a genuine challenger for the title after taking control of the drivers’ championship at the conclusion of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April.
Piastri knew McLaren had built a race-winning car from the very first round of the season, and he started to capitalise on that in the rounds following the season-opener.
Given the impressive calibre of results that the McLaren star was recording, Piastri became the subject of Max Verstappen comparisons by multiple figures inside the F1 paddock.
His ice-cold demeanour in the McLaren garages, paired with the cold and calculated moves he would make on track, was of stark similarity to the Dutchman’s antics which has seen him become a four-time world champion in recent years.
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