Guenther Steiner tells Oscar Piastri where he must improve after costing ‘himself’ the 2025 F1 title

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Australia’s wait for its next F1 champion will continue after Oscar Piastri only secured third in the 2025 drivers’ standings, as McLaren teammate Lando Norris won the title.

Piastri had the chance to join three-time title-winner Jack Brabham and the 1980 champion, Alan Jones, as an Australian F1 champion in 2025. The Melbourne native was also the odds-on favourite for the crown after 15/24 rounds, having opened a 34-point lead atop the table.

But Piastri finished the 2025 F1 season with a 13-point deficit to McLaren teammate Norris, as the Briton beat Red Bull rival Max Verstappen by just two points to lift his debut title. The 24-year-old also outscored Norris in just two of the final nine rounds, coming in the last two.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown is convinced that Piastri is a “future world champion”, having taken as many Grand Prix wins as Norris in 2025 with seven. The Briton just eclipsed the Australian for pole positions with seven compared to six and also for podiums with 18 compared to 16.

Guenther Steiner urges Oscar Piastri to ‘take a good look at himself’ after losing the 2025 F1 title

Piastri can look back at his wobble between the Italian Grand Prix in September and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November for when his 2025 F1 drivers’ championship hopes fell apart, according to Guenther Steiner. He only took one podium through that seven-round stretch.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Oscar Piastri misses out on the 2025 F1 championship by 13 points…

Do you think he will EVER win a Formula 1 title in his career? Let us know in the comments

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Steiner is adamant that Piastri cost “himself” the 2025 title during that stint, having failed to get over his setbacks in Italy and Azerbaijan plus his difficulties on low-grip circuits in Austin, Mexico, Brazil and Las Vegas. Now, Piastri must work on himself if he wants another title bid.

“I think Oscar knows that he, himself, is to blame for not having become world champion,” Steiner told sport.de. “Because of this slump five or six races ago, where he really delivered nothing, he needs to take a good look at himself and recover.

“Next year, he has to hope that McLaren will again have a car good enough to become world champion.”

Oscar Piastri’s problems snowballed as his 2025 title bid collapsed from Italy to Las Vegas

Piastri’s wobble started at Monza when McLaren created controversy by issuing team orders that favoured Norris at the start of September. Baku then saw Piastri crash in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after he had also crashed during qualifying and had jumped the start of the race.

McLaren ordered Piastri to give P2 back to Norris in the Italian Grand Prix in round 16, as the Australian undercut the Briton whom they had told would not be disadvantaged from letting his teammate pit first. Norris had emerged behind after having a slower pit stop than Piastri.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

How the Drivers’ Championship would’ve looked without THAT swap in Monza…🤯

Should Max Verstappen feel aggrieved that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri swapping places in Monza may have been the difference in the Drivers' Championship?

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Emotions then ran high when Norris banged wheels with Piastri at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix, for which the latter felt McLaren should have made the Briton give P3 back. Also, Piastri crashed into Norris in the F1 Sprint at COTA, which took the papaya pals out on Lap 1.

Piastri struggled to get over McLaren blaming him for the COTA Sprint crash with Norris, and the Briton gained more momentum in Mexico City and Sao Paulo. The Australian had shown he could recover from a setback at the start of the season, but his run of woe was too much.

Norris won the season-opener this March after Piastri spun whilst P2 in the Australian Grand Prix, which he recovered from to earn P9. Piastri even won five of the following eight Grands Prix and made every podium in that run, but he failed to produce a similar response late on.