Peter Windsor tells Oscar Piastri to study driving style of F1 rival with 25 pole positions

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Oscar Piastri will be disappointed with his showing at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. While McLaren teammate Lando Norris romped to victory, he missed out on the podium.

Piastri was asserting himself in the intra-McLaren battle before the summer break. He overtook Norris to win in Hungary and then beat him at Spa a week later.

But he couldn’t live with the Englishman at Zandvoort, lapping half a second slower in qualifying on the second-shortest circuit of the year. In his defence, it was a special effort from Norris – one of the best qualifying performances of the season so far.

Like his teammate, he lost a place on the first lap, dropping to fourth behind George Russell. With Piastri struggling to overtake on track, McLaren decided to extend his first stint to give him a tyre advantage in his second.

He used this to pass Russell on lap 40, but he’d also fallen behind Charles Leclerc. While he rapidly caught up to the Ferrari, he couldn’t execute a move.

Piastri is now 46 points behind Norris in the standings. Andrea Stella will therefore face growing calls to instate a number one/number two hierarchy for the rest of the season, maximising the team’s chances in both championships.

Oscar Piastri has had the chance to study Charles Leclerc

Speaking on the Cameron F1 YouTube channel, Peter Windsor suggested that Piastri could learn from Leclerc. Back in May, he spent the entire Monaco Grand Prix behind the Ferrari as he came home second.

And in Zandvoort, he once again followed the 25-time pole-sitter closely. While his focus was of course on finding a way past, Windsor hinted that he could learn something too.

He said: “In Oscar’s case, he’s working hard at short corners. He spent enough time behind Charles Leclerc again – in Monaco and now Zandvoort. He knows how Charles drives.”

Piastri has made a clear step forward in his second season, scoring four podiums in total. But he’s still lost out to Norris in 13 out of 15 qualifying sessions, and 11 out of 15 races.

McLaren’s Dutch GP upgrade may establish them as the undisputed class of the field. That, in turn, will make them the favourites heading into 2025, where Norris could have the edge on Piastri in a championship fight.

Why Martin Brundle thinks Oscar Piastri is an engineer’s dream

It’s a credit to Piastri, and to McLaren’s fourth progress, that P4 seems underwhelming. He’s been impressively consistent since Imola, scoring double-figure points in eight of the last nine races.

Martin Brundle says Piastri is an engineer’s dream because he only supplies essential information. F1’s youngest driver has won praise for his level-headed demeanour this year.

Alice Powell reckons Piastri still needs to fully understand the tyres, just 37 races into his career. Leclerc, his Zandvoort opponent, is closing on 150 starts.

There’s a distinct top four in F1 at the moment, and his inexperience does put him at a clear disadvantage. But Max Verstappen would have Piastri in his F1 team, which shows that he’s highly regarded among his peers.