Oscar Piastri told the only race where he will ‘really’ have an advantage in 2025 F1 title fight

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Oscar Piastri now trails his McLaren teammate Lando Norris atop the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship standings by just one point, with four rounds of the season remaining.

It is the first time since April that Piastri has not led the F1 drivers’ championship, having sat atop the standings since the fifth round of this year’s scheduled 24. Piastri dethroned Norris after a mere 35 days, but the Briton has reclaimed the top spot with 357 points playing 356.

Red Bull rival Max Verstappen is also only 36 points shy of Norris in the standings, as the 28-year-old strives to become a five-time consecutive champion. The Dutchman has outscored Piastri in each of the past five rounds, as well, to cut what was a 104-point deficit in August.

Piastri has struggled in recent weeks, with the 24-year-old also not finishing on the podium since he won the Dutch Grand Prix to lead Norris by 34 points in August. McLaren watched Piastri crash in Azerbaijan, finish P4 in Singapore, P5 in the United States and P5 in Mexico.

The Qatar Grand Prix is Oscar Piastri’s only advantage over the final four rounds of 2025

Piastri struggled with the low-grip circuits as Verstappen from the Sprint at COTA and United States Grand Prix from pole position and Norris won the Mexico City Grand Prix from pole in the last two rounds. Verstappen also gained as Piastri crashed into Norris in the COTA Sprint.

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Races in Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi will now close out the 2025 F1 season with a three-way title scrap. But Robert Doornbos feels the Qatar Grand Prix on November 28-30 is the only race to come where Piastri will have a big advantage over Norris and Verstappen.

Doornbos said on The Pit Talk Podcast: “The weekend in Austin, perfect for Max, 33 points in the bag. It was textbook. Mexico was not textbook, but they maximised their performance. And the tracks that are coming up, Brazil, I have high hopes for Max.

“I like the championship hunt of the Bull, pushing the papaya guys to the limit. Brazil and [Las] Vegas should suit Max. Then Qatar was really a Piastri circuit, a McLaren circuit. And Abu Dhabi, don’t forget, Lando Norris was very fast last year.

“So, it’s sort of tiptoeing every weekend. I like it. Let’s hope the championship is decided in Abu Dhabi.”

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri won the F1 Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix in 2023 and 2024

Piastri has performed well each time that he has visited the Lusail International Circuit in his F1 career so far. Piastri won the Sprint at the 2023 Qatar GP from pole, for his first victory in any race format. The Australian also won the 2024 Sprint, and there is an F1 Sprint in 2025.

Qatar will host the last F1 Sprint of 2025, following the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on November 7-9. While Norris gifted Piastri the Sprint win at the 2024 Qatar GP, as he paid the Melbourne native back for a similar gift in Brazil, the latter will hope to seal another in 2025.

Piastri also finished ahead of Norris during the 2023 Qatar GP in P2 and P3 and also in 2024 in P3 and P10. But the McLaren pair’s results were slightly skewed by Norris’ 10s penalty in the 2024 Qatar GP for speeding under yellow flags, which Verstappen brought attention to.