Martin Brundle keeps saying the same thing about Qatar Sprint polesitter Oscar Piastri

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Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Sprint race in Qatar for his first front-of-the-pack start since August. It comes after several months of hardships that have seen him suffer in the drivers’ championship.

The Australian driver managed to take first blood at the penultimate race weekend of the season, and will start ahead of the championship leader, Lando Norris, who claimed a spot on the second row of the grid for Saturday’s Sprint race.

The impressive one-lap pace from Oscar Piastri comes on a weekend where Norris could secure the drivers’ championship.

The British driver needs to outscore his McLaren counterpart, as well as Max Verstappen, by two points in order to leave Lusail as a brand new world champion.

Piastri led the F1 standings for 15 of the 22 rounds that have taken place so far, and for a long while, it looked as if the title would surely be heading in the direction of the 24-year-old upon the conclusion of the season.

• READ MORE: Oscar Piastri takes Qatar Sprint pole ahead of George Russell as Max Verstappen struggles

Martin Brundle thinks Oscar Piastri has a lot of positives to take away from his ‘unlucky’ 2025 F1 campaign

Speaking during Sky Sports F1’s coverage of Sprint qualifying at the Qatar Grand Prix, commentator David Croft drew attention to the fact that Piastri is in dire need of a turnaround in form for him to potentially steal the title away from Norris before the season ends.

In response, Martin Brundle replied (28/11 17:32), “You have to remember that Oscar is young, he’s got three and a half seasons less experience than Lando Norris, 82 races.

“We know how Lando has developed in those three and a half seasons, or in the last season, indeed. So Oscar’s finding himself in a championship showdown, and I think he’s found it quite hard, lately.

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“Maybe his chin’s dropped a little bit; things happen. He’s been so unlucky on so many occasions. If he were a golfer, the ball would just sit on the edge of the cup, and it wouldn’t quite roll in.

“And that’s how it that’s how it goes in sports sometimes. But he can turn it around. He’s still got a chance to win this world championship.

“But you’re right, the momentum, I think Lando Norris has found a way to keep his head calm and Max Verstappen has been there before, not too much flusters him.

• READ MORE: Zak Brown is getting tired of ‘uninformed’ critics saying that McLaren prefer Lando Norris

Martin Brundle has issued an ‘unlucky’ verdict on Oscar Piastri’s 2025 F1 season multiple times in the past

After Piastri’s fall from the top spot of the standings, which came following Norris’ rout at the Mexico City Grand Prix, the Australian was unable to answer back at the following round in Sao Paulo.

Piastri suffered an unfortunate shunt in the Brazil Sprint, where he just dipped a tyre onto a wet patch of the circuit, which sent him careering into the barriers and out of the race.

Brundle sympathised with the young Australian, noting how the bad stroke of luck could have literally happened to anyone.

Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg were two prime examples, with them following Piastri into the barriers just moments after.

Brundle also pinpointed three key moments that seemingly unravelled Piastri’s title challenge in recent months.

In addition to the off in Brazil, the McLaren star also suffered from early retirements during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the United States Sprint race.

Both incidents resulted in Verstappen eating away at the deficit he once held behind Piastri.