Jolyon Palmer saw Oscar Piastri make a ‘critical’ change that proves he can win the F1 title one day

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Oscar Piastri finished 13 points shy in his bid to win a maiden F1 drivers’ title in 2025, as he sealed third while McLaren teammate Lando Norris won his first championship.

Piastri led the F1 drivers’ championship longer than anyone else in 2025 after he topped the table for 189 out of a possible 266 days. Norris led the way for the first 35 days and the final 42 days, having fought back from a 34-point deficit to Piastri across 15 out of the 24 rounds.

Norris started the year as the favourite for the 2025 drivers’ title, having had Piastri covered in each of their first two years as teammates during 2023 and 2024. Yet McLaren saw Piastri emerge as the champion-elect in the first half of this year as Norris regularly made mistakes.

The tide turned in Woking from round 16, though, as McLaren ordering Piastri to give Norris back P2 in the Italian Grand Prix played on the former’s mind. Also, McLaren blaming Piastri for crashing into Norris in the F1 Sprint at COTA had a detrimental impact on his title hopes.

Is qualifying Oscar Piastri’s biggest weakness?

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Jolyon Palmer admires Oscar Piastri’s ‘critical’ improvements in qualifying during 2025

Piastri also struggled on the low-grip tracks in Austin, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Las Vegas. But Jolyon Palmer admires how Piastri eventually bounced back in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Yet how the 24-year-old improved in qualifying throughout the 2025 term was more impressive.

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

Palmer has told the F1 website that he believes the Australian proved that he can win a title one day in 2025, with his improved pace and consistency during qualifying “critical”. Piastri scored his first F1 pole position in China during round two, for one of his six poles this year.

“What a season for Oscar, who came up tantalisingly short but at least managed to regroup after a tricky run through the Americas to shape up for a genuine title tilt,” said Palmer.

“Seven Grand Prix wins could easily have been 10 were it not for a penalty in Silverstone and tough strategy outcomes in Budapest and Qatar.

“His pace and consistency on Saturdays was critical, and a big turnaround from 2024 when he was blown away by Norris over one lap.

“You could make a case for Oscar being a worthy world champion this year, and from where he was in 2024 that’s an amazing coming of age.

“It didn’t happen, but he will certainly start next year with more eyes on him if he has a car to compete again. I think he’s shown he’s got what it takes.”

McLaren’s strategic decisions cost Oscar Piastri two wins and 14 points during 2025

Finish the sentence: In his Formula 1 career, Oscar PIastri will win ____ titles

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Piastri drew a controversial 10s penalty in the British GP, as the stewards felt he forced Red Bull ace Max Verstappen to take avoiding action at the second safety car restart. Verstappen appeared to make an exaggerated action when Piastri braked to set the pace for the restart.

McLaren’s strategic decisions during the Hungarian GP in August and November’s Qatar GP also cost Piastri. The latter incident was particularly frustrating, as McLaren cost Piastri the win in the Qatar GP by electing against pitting under the safety car on Lap 7 like their rivals.

Norris won the Hungarian GP after McLaren let him adopt a one-stop strategy to try to pass Mercedes’ George Russell for P3, while Piastri remained on a two-stopper. The Briton went on to win in Budapest by just 0.698s after surviving Piastri’s attacks with newer Pirelli tyres.

Piastri will now hope that the improvements he showed during qualifying in 2025 pay off in the future, provided that McLaren design a competitive car for the 2026 F1 regulations. The 2025 season could yet prove to be the only time that Norris and Piastri fight for the F1 title.

READ MORE: 2025 F1 teammate head-to-heads, including Grand Prix and Sprint results

Norris beat Piastri 15-7 in their Grand Prix qualifying head-to-head in 2023 and he also beat him 20-4 in 2024. But, while Norris eventually won their head-to-head 13-11 in 2025, Piastri impressed McLaren boss Andrea Stella with his improved qualifying pace compared to 2024.

Piastri even led Norris 9-6 over the first 15 rounds of the 2025 F1 season, before Norris took control at McLaren when the Australian’s form later fell away. McLaren only saw Piastri out-qualify Norris again in Singapore and Qatar, after finishing 2025 with seven defeats in nine.

The low-grip circuits in Austin, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Las Vegas did not help Piastri find a response to Norris’ improvements in qualifying. Norris could adapt his driving style to get the rear of McLaren’s car to slide on turn-in, but that style does not suit Piastri’s approach.