Simon Lazenby has noticed a change in Oscar Piastri since he started winning Formula 1 races

Follow us on Google Discover

Oscar Piastri is vying for the first world championship of his career in Formula 1, and Simon Lazenby has noticed a stark change in how he carries out his media duties since.

After McLaren emerged as a contender for race wins during the 2024 F1 season, Piastri has managed to get himself into machinery that is capable of winning a title in just his third season in the sport.

Some drivers go through their whole career without being able to put up a genuine challenge for a championship, and to get a shot so early in their tenure can have make-or-break consequences on their mental capacity in future campaigns.

The 24-year-old led the grid in the F1 standings for the majority of the season before being usurped by Lando Norris in Mexico last weekend.

Now sitting one point behind his McLaren counterpart, Piastri’s title hopes could be ‘done’ after it has become clear that he’s lost some trust within the confines of the cockpit.

READ MORE: Oscar Piastri told why he didn’t act like a ‘world champion’ in ‘painful’ Mexican Grand Prix

Simon Lazenby has seen Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri become ‘more closed off’ after becoming an F1 title contender

Speaking on an episode of the Road to Success Podcast, the Sky Sports F1 presenter touched upon the difference in a driver’s attitude towards their media duties as they progress through their career.

Lazenby said: “You get the three phases of a driver’s career, right? So, the first couple of years they come in, they’re really eager to talk to the media and people like us. It’s like they’re trying to build their profile. They’re trying to become a name.

“They’re also trying to deliver on the track, but they’re open to doing bits of media. Look at Max, for example. I remember Nats and Johnny were doing knife throwing with him in Budapest, and you see some of the early videos of him and Daniel [Ricciardo], and he was really open to the media, right?

“And then, and it’s not just him, by the way, I’m just talking about all of them. Then they get their first big contract and, okay, I need to make a career out of this the next sort of three or four years.

“I see it happening to Lando and to Oscar. Now that there’s a world championship on the line, they’ve become more serious and more closed off because people want more of their time.

“Then you get to superstar status, which is Fernando, Lando, Max, multiple world champions, and it’s on their terms.

“They’ll talk to you if they want to talk to you in terms of a media perspective, but they don’t need to. They don’t need the media anymore.”

READ MORE: Andrea Stella knows Max Verstappen will punish McLaren’s drivers if one thing happens at the Sao Paulo GP

Figures inside the F1 paddock have seen Oscar Piastri’s demeanour change throughout the 2025 season

Lazenby isn’t the only member of the F1 paddock who has seen Piastri’s demeanour change as the current campaign has progressed.

Once a cool and level-headed figure at race weekends, people in the paddock believed the pressure is getting to Piastri at the Singapore Grand Prix just a few races ago, at a time when he was still in charge of the F1 standings.

During his nightmare weekend in Baku two weekends before Singapore, Piastri was seen to be ‘carrying himself’ differently before the disastrous shunt that ended his Grand Prix after just five corners.

It’s clear to see the type of impact that a potential world title is having on the mental fortitude of the Australian driver.

After being leapfrogged in the championship by his McLaren counterpart at the Mexico City Grand Prix, he may find some respite in relinquishing his status as the hunted and becoming a hunter instead.