Oscar Piastri told why Lando Norris has found the F1 title fight ‘easier’ after his recent collapse

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Oscar Piastri has endured a huge collapse in the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship, with Lando Norris turning a 34-point deficit into a 24-point lead across the last six rounds.

The Briton even flipped what was a 22-point deficit to the Australian through 18 rounds into a 24-point lead after round 21 out of 24 in Brazil last weekend. Now, Norris holds his biggest lead atop the F1 drivers’ standings all season so far, having come back from his worst deficit.

Norris delivered perfection at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to go from a one-point lead over his McLaren teammate to a 24-point advantage. The 25-year-old won the Sprint and the Grand Prix from pole position, while Piastri crashed in the Sprint and was only P5 in the main race.

Lando Norris’ 2024 F1 title bid has made 2025 ‘easier’ for him than Oscar Piastri

Piastri has finished each of the past three Grands Prix in P5, in fact, whereas Norris won the Mexico City GP and the Sao Paulo GP on the back of sealing P2 in the United States GP. The Australian has also not finished on any podium through the five rounds since the Italian GP.

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

DTM star Thomas Preining believes the huge change in fortunes at McLaren recently stems from Norris’ advantage of having also fought Red Bull rival Max Verstappen for the F1 title in 2024. That experience has made 2025 “easier” for Norris than Piastri amid his first title fight.

Preining told Servus TV: “There’s definitely a difference in experience, because Norris, even though it was a long-distance duel with Max last year, has already fought for the championship.

“He also has a few more years of Formula 1 experience and is older. Therefore, he finds certain situations easier.”

Norris emerged as a title contender for the first time in his career last season after McLaren’s development trajectory made their car the machine to beat. But Verstappen won the title by 63 points after leading by 60 points after seven rounds and by 69 points after 10/24 rounds.

Oscar Piastri’s 2025 F1 title bid has collapsed since McLaren told him to give Lando Norris P2 at Monza

Piastri is now enduring his longest podium drought in a single term since the first five rounds of the 2024 F1 season. The wheels have really fallen off his wagon since McLaren told Piastri to give Norris back P2 in the Italian GP, having told the latter that he would not get undercut.

Baku saw a weekend of woe as Piastri crashed out of the Azerbaijan GP on top of crashing in qualifying and jumping the start of the race. McLaren also saw their men tangle when Norris barged into Piastri in the Singapore GP and when the latter hit the former in the COTA Sprint.

McLaren’s mechanics had to make yet more repairs to one of their cars when Piastri crashed out of the Sao Paulo Sprint, too. The 24-year-old’s collapse has been as much of a surprise as it has been sizable, having secured seven wins and 14 podiums in the first 16 Grands Prix.