Martin Brundle says Oscar Piastri now has a ‘laser-guided’ advantage over Lando Norris

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Oscar Piastri may have lost out to McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the 2025 drivers’ championship, but even Formula 1’s newest title holder knows not to write off the Australian just yet.

McLaren went into the final race of the season knowing that either of their drivers could win the championship, but that the threat of Max Verstappen was lurking in the background.

Lando Norris secured the P3 finish he needed to claim the title, but not before Oscar Piastri pulled off a beautiful move around turn nine on the opening lap.

David Coulthard on Channel 4’s coverage called it the ‘pass of the season’, and Piastri has been touted as a future world champion as a result of what many people have seen this season.

Martin Brundle is one of those admirers and has been talking about the Australian driver’s third campaign as a Formula 1 driver.

Although his post-Zandvoort blip ultimately cost him the title, Brundle still thinks that Piastri is a far better overtaker than Norris, which could be crucial depending on where McLaren end up in the 2026 pecking order.

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

Martin Brundle says Lando Norris can’t match Oscar Piastri’s ‘bold’ overtaking skills

Brundle was writing in his Sky Sports F1 column after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix about the 24-year-old, and he said: “Norris still doesn’t have Piastri’s absolute laser-guided and bold overtaking, and in many races Oscar took his turn to be the undisputed class of the field with sensational victories in China, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Miami, Spain, Belgium, and, tellingly, his last of the season nine races ago in the Netherlands in August.”

Norris outqualified Piastri 13-11 this season, but that meant Piastri had more opportunities to use his superior overtaking skills.

Neither driver could find a way past Verstappen at Suzuka, but Piastri found it much easier to get past the Red Bull driver in Miami on his way to his fourth victory of the year.

It will be interesting to see how next year’s car suits both drivers, with Piastri opting not to use the suspension tweak that appeared to turn around Norris’ form.

A similar innovation next year that benefits the Australian driver could be the difference between winning the title and narrowly missing out again.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

Martin Brundle gives his verdict on McLaren’s controversial team orders

Brundle then addressed the team orders that have supposedly gone against Piastri and said: “In Monza, he was asked to hand back a place to Lando after pit stops.

“For me, it was a very clear decision by the team. They asked Lando to yield his priority pit stop, due to being the lead McLaren, over to Oscar to help his team-mate defend against Charles Leclerc’s closing Ferrari, with a promise of no undercut.

“Lando played the team game and said ‘yes’ despite it being against his own best interests, and it duly happened. Piastri received the first pit stop in 1.9 seconds and, somehow inevitably, Norris’ took a yawning 5.9 seconds, and there was indeed an undercut, and Piastri was ahead.

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

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“The team corrected that back on track. Of course, a slow pit stop is just part of any Grand Prix season, but this one was delivered under specific circumstances.

“At least Piastri was now back in Norris’ DRS range and was told he was free to race, and so still a net gain. Norris duly pulled away because he was the faster car/driver combo on the day.”

Brundle also admitted that if that’s the reason Piastri’s head started to drop, then he ‘shouldn’t have let that happen’.

He called Piastri’s Baku weekend a ‘nightmare’ and noted that, “Two factors created this fallow phase for Oscar, firstly a generally accepted fact that on low grip surfaces he’s yet to maximise his full potential, but also Max Verstappen and Red Bull found a rich vein of form in winning six of the last nine starts.”

Next season, Piastri cannot let that weakness, or the presence of Verstappen, derail another championship charge.