Oscar Piastri insists he is ready for the mounting pressure of the Formula 1 title fight as the season tightens at the front. The McLaren driver leads team-mate Lando Norris by 25 points — a gap trimmed from 31 after Piastri’s DNF in Azerbaijan — with Max Verstappen also in the hunt but 69 points adrift.
Experience to lean on — and a team to match
Both Piastri and Norris are experiencing their first sustained championship challenge. Piastri, widely regarded as mentally robust, believes his title-winning junior career in FIA F3 and FIA F2 equips him for the stretch run. “The intensity will kind of naturally increase as we get closer to the end of the year, and I’m ready for that,” he told media, including RacingNews365. “I’ve been in this position before in other championships, and that kind of feeling and that countdown to the end of the year are the same.”
He added that while he can lean on his manager Mark Webber and the McLaren set-up, the outcome will rest on his own execution: “It is ultimately down to how I manage it, how I drive, and how I cope with things which are going to be coming. But having an important team around you and a good group of people around you is very important to be able to lean on, and Mark is certainly one of those people, and I’m excited to see how it goes.”
Where the title race stands
- Piastri leads Norris by 25 points after Baku.
- Azerbaijan DNF reduced his advantage from 31 points.
- Verstappen remains a factor, 69 points back.
Key to Piastri’s approach
Piastri’s message is consistent: control the controllables, keep executing in qualifying and on Sundays, and rely on the structures around him without losing personal accountability. With pressure set to intensify, his calm framing suggests he is embracing the challenge rather than fearing it.
