P1 with Matt and Tommy - Oscar Piastri: The 2025 Title Contenders

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

Join us for the first of three special podcast episodes looking at each of the drivers who will fight for the Championship in Abu Dhabi this weekend!First up is the man who led the Championship for so much of the season, but a dip in form has now left him hoping for a miracle. It's Oscar Piastri - but what was his best moment of the season? What moment might be the pivotal one that cost him everything? Let's get into it! Please vote for us in the Autosport Awards 2026! https://www.autosport.com/awards-voting/You can listen to an extended version of every Race Review episode over on our Patreon! You'll also access to every P1 episode ad-free, early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommyFollow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the P1 podcast with Matt and Tommy. We're going to be diving into all three championship contenders across three bonus podcast episodes. As a championship showdown doesn't come around very often. The first since 2021 and the first with more than two drivers in the hunt since 2010. Oh, we're getting down to crunch. time now, aren't we, Tom Bellingham? Insane. Yeah, as we've said many times before, like, drink it in and soak it up because this happens so rarely in Formula One.

So I hope you're looking forward to this one. I certainly am looking forward to talking about this. And, you know, just let's feed the hype. Leave a like, subscribe to this channel. If you listen to audio, leave us a five-star review. If you're on YouTube, leave us a like, subscribe. Let's get this, let's get this pumping because I am, yeah, I'm absolutely vibing with this and it shouldn't be this shouldn't happen. This should not be the case, but it is. And we're going to dive into all three drivers right now. So let's begin with Oscar

Piastri. I was going to say, in the red corner, but there's more than two drivers in the the championship fight. But Oscar Piastri is 16 points behind. He's had seven race victories in Bahrain, China, Saudi, Miami, Spain, Spar and Zandvort with 15 podiums. So let's talk about Oscar Piastri so far and his season. We thought for two thirds of this Formula One championship that Oscar just had it, just about had it, right? He wasn't home and dry. He wasn't two, three race victories ahead. But he had a

comfortable buffer and every time it sort of started to narrow back down and get a bit closer with Lando, a big moment like Zandvort came in or perhaps Canada. These moments where you think, okay, well, Oscar's clearly just got the, he's the ice cold man, as everyone was saying. Then it changed. And the last bar in Qatar, the last six, seven races prior to that, was championship losing form. So a very, it's not a tale of two halves. It's a tale of two-thirds and one-third.

Yeah, it's so true. Like, if we go way back to the start of the season, I think no one gave Oscar Piastria a shot, did they really like all the talk? And there's probably a bit of, you know, us being in the UK and the UK media, obviously, and us watching it on UK TV. All the hype seemed to be around.

Lando Norris, can he do it this time? Came close last year, didn't do it. McLaren are looking absolutely amazing. So can Lando win the World Championship this year? Oscar had some really good moments, didn't he, in 2024? Looked very quick, but he didn't have that consistency throughout a season. And I don't think many people, I must admit, and me included, really gave him a chance and thought he'd be in the World Championship fight

or be able to beat Lando based on what we saw last year. Of course, he's still very new. as well only his third full season but my word was he impressive right from the get-go really obviously Australia was a tiny error which cost him big big points he was going to finish second behind Lando on the road and was actually chasing him for the victory

and then we look at the amazing run of form that he went on as you mentioned like reading out his victories he won in China then was in that train in Japan but then one in Bahrain one in Saudi one in Miami, and we thought, wow, Oscar Piastri, where have you come from? And he was absolutely sensational at the start of the year. He was, you know, after Australia, he went on a run of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8 podiums, then he had a 4th in Canada, then brings another 6 podiums home after that,

and then we get to Azerbaijan. Let's first and foremost, before we talk about perhaps more negative moments of Oscar's season. go with what has been his best moment of the season. For me, there's been a lot of highlights for Oscar, as you said, you know, we were kind of sat here going, whoa, Oscar, I was unfamiliar because there was just so many faultless victories. His best moment of the season, I think in terms of championship swing, it has to be Zandvort.

That was the moment where I imagine he. started to believe that he could be world champion. Of course, it took Lando not to have a good weekend with his car failing on him. So I'd say that's up there. But then on the flip side of that, I would say even the first win in China, bouncing back from Australia, I know Lando had a break problem in China towards the end. But Oscar was, that was like a statement drive. Of course, Lewis Hamilton won the sprint in China. Don't forget that. Just wanted to mention that one. But the main race was just such a statement drive from Oscar. He won by just under 10 seconds. I know Lando was managing at the end. But that was like a case of, oh, wow. Okay, right. So

Oscar could well have won Australia, or was at least on the pace. We're now in China and he's won that one as well. So I'd say there's, it's difficult to pinpoint one for sure. It depends how you weigh it up. Yeah, it's had a lot of impressive wins, which is why it's difficult to pinpoint one moment. I think for me, Zandvo is, in terms of like, it felt like the championship that he was starting to get his hands on it, but that was mainly because of the Lando failure. It was, of course, a weekend that he was going to win anyway and was brilliant, you know, pole position, faster slap. In terms of like most impressive victories, the two that stand out to me are Bahrain, where his teammate was really struggling, made out.

errors and we, you know, we thought after the first round, and we'll talk about obviously Lando later, Oscar winning that race in Bahrain, getting pole position, getting fastest lap, a comfortable victory, and Lando having struggles was a real like, okay, we need to seriously consider Oscar Piastri as a world championship winner here, even that early in the season, because as we said at the start, like he wasn't really given too much of a A contender? A contender. As someone that can win. As someone that can win.

And the other one that stands out for me is actually SPAR, the Belgian Grand Prix, because Oscar Piastri had just lost the British Grand Prix through an error of the safety car, which I'm sure we'll get on to when we talk about his worst moments. And it's like, how is he going to bounce back? And he made it a fantastic start, overtook. his teammate Lando resisted the pressure from from Lando to take that victory um and at that moment it's mad to be here thinking you'd only take at this time of you know until we get to the final race we don't know how it's going to go but only one more victory after that race and and

you know spa quite earlyish in the season um you know round 13 of 24 um still a long way to go But he was just looking so comfortable then. I think that was such an impressive drive from him. It really was, yeah. Sparro's a great shout with it being wet to dry and plenty of reasons to make a mistake. Third season, let's not forget as well for Oscar Piastri. He feels like part of the furniture these days.

But he is still very much learning and has been learning a lot this season, no doubt. Let's go to worst moment of the year. Where do you place Oscar Piastri's worst moment? well I'm sure everyone listening watching right now is going to say one word and that's Baku of course Baku on paper is his worst moment for him to look like it was so comfortable for him really after Zamvort we thought the championships won a lot of people were saying oh the championships won we said never count it out but it was obviously more than likely that he had a great opportunity to win it and was looking comfortable.

And he just had the absolute stinker of all weekends to crash in qualifying, crash in the main race as well, on the first lap, jump the start as well, and drop all the way to the back. It really doesn't get much worse than that. But it's an insane thing to say that I'm not actually going to pick it as the worst moment of the year because he was there with Lando and I think the most shocking thing for me was Austin when he got to Austin and his pace was absolutely nowhere

and it was like, why is there this massive gap now and it's something he continued into of course Mexico, Brazil and I think that was a weird one because Baku, it was obviously awful, had a really poor run but he was matching Lando in terms of pace before, of course, he crashed and had a nightmare.

But Austin was like, what's happened to Oscar Piastri? Where has all this pace gone? he was so far off in qualifying and then so far off in the race and it was that moment where we thought is Oscar really struggling here

is this like and caused the crash in the sprint and caused the crash of course and crashed in the sprint in Brazil as well like there's yeah there's so many sadly unexpected low lights for Oscar over the last

seven or eight races I have to lock in Baku there's no there's no other weekend that comes close because literally everything went wrong. And that was, you know, we questioned it at that moment. That was the beginning of the end, potentially, of his championship challenge, unless there's something crazy that happens in Abu Dhabi.

From there on, he has not, or had not been on the podium until Qatar. That is, you know, a disaster in terms of the fall off of form. But then, yeah, there are some medium low lights as well of just. the pace. But, you know, crashing in the sprint in Brazil, crashing in the sprint in Austin, of course, gets away with it with the fact that he took out Lando as well, although now Max Rastappen is the closest challenger to Lando. So is it really that good at all these days for Oscar when he is now behind Max in the championship? You know, we talk about there's 104 points. That 104 points was to Oscar Piastri, the Max for Stappen deficit. Max is now ahead. So Max has gained 108 points on

Oscar, which is insane. ridiculous. So for Oscar, it's, I really hope for his sake he's learnt why he's had that stint of six or seven races where he wasn't on the pace. Because if that becomes a consistent trend, or if like the end of the season just isn't that good for him, he will struggle to bring a world championship over the line. He is in only his third season, as we say. So there's plenty of time for him to continue to develop and learn. But yeah, quite a few low lights to. to mention, but Baku definitely takes the title that you don't want as worst moment of the year. It made it so shocking as well. I think even more shocking with how we saw it, because I think after Zandvo in particular, but even before this, I think even the discussions before what happened in Zandvo, where Oscar Piastri obviously had that amazing opportunity where he got 25 points on his title rival, Lando Norris. All the talk was like, Oscar's so cool and calm that he is going to be the one that's not going to get nervous, not make

mistakes, not crack under the pressure of a world championship. And yeah, it is that form, isn't it, that's really, really cost him towards the end. So we're going to also look at the thing that could potentially have cost him the title. We'll do it for the other two drivers as well. May well be similarly linked to worst moment of the year, but For me, of course, we have Abu Dhabi to go. Qatar could well have been the thing that changes it all. I know it would have to be 12 points to Lando that he'd still have to make up in Abu Dhabi, but we could well reflect on that one.

Baku is, of course, the one that's at the top of my list again for this, because it was a disaster. But then again, at the same time, was it that many points lost, considering his pace? No. And Landon didn't pick up many but in terms of like he wasn't running in the top three, four and then crashed he was struggling for pace anyway

so then you look all the way back to the first race of the season when you look at actual points lost to your championship rivals Australia is probably number one because Lando finished first and Max finished second of course that is the first race of season it feels like so so long ago but if we're pinpointing moments

where big point swings have happened that's one of them the of course the retirement is a big swing in Max's favour in Azerbaijan and then from then on obviously we've spoken about

that sort of last third of the season so for me it still has to be Baku for now but Australia gets a notable mention I've got to throw Monza into the mix for me I think there's two sides to it yes in terms of points

it's not really a huge amount you're just swapping between second and third but there's I am adamant that something shifted with Oscar after that moment because you look at his form. First, third, first, first, third, third, third, third, first, fourth, second, second, first, second, first. And then Monza, then it's retired fourth, fifth, fifth, fifth, fifth, fifth. Like, you can literally pinpoint the Italian Grand Prix as the moment where his form goes.

Yeah. And some people will say, oh, you know, you've got to deal with these things and, that's part of being a driver but his form fell off so badly after that moment and it's a moment that you know is so controversial and could still well be controversial if he loses the title by a handful of points um because the the switch of course with lander with the slow pit stop he but fully believed that you know they shouldn't have switched and it put him in a really unfair position that he had to give position a position back to his teammate who'd had a slow pit stop and I think the whole media pressure and fallout and everything over like the team want

Lando to win the team want Lando to win now Oscar's number two driver can't have helped his mentality and everything going into into the next few races so I really do think Monsor was such a big turning point it's got to be up there yeah that's a very fair point without that switch all three are separated by 10 points Oscar would be one behind Max and Lando would be nine ahead that is of Max for Stappen that is even crazier

It's crazy a crazy scenario to talk about and think about I also want to throw the thing I teased in driver ratings now of a scenario Oh yes That might yeah you left us on a cliff hangar I did What is it? So this is like

This is insane mad thoughts But I've not seen anyone mention it So we all know oscar piastri needs a miracle right to win this world title is it weirdly better for him to be further behind max de stappen so max de stappen has to throw everything on the line against lando because realistically the only way oscar can win the title is if they both dnf and if max de stapein goes for a dive bomb and takes out lando norris is he doing that if he's further behind in the title, or Oscar Piastri is closer and stuff. So in a weird way, I think that is Oscar's chance

to win the title that there's a collision. And maybe, and we saw it with Sebastian Vettel, with Mark Weber and Alonzo, two drivers focusing on each other in the title. We've seen it before where like the forgotten driver can sometimes benefit from that, that the two drivers are focused on themselves. So maybe it's not such a bad thing that Oscar Piacer is almost like counted out because the expectation that he can just go for something completely different or hope that his title rivals collide. Yes, so he's 16 points behind Lando,

which means he would need to win and Lando finish no higher than sixth. If they collided and both retired, basically Lando, so basically Oscar just has to finish second on the road. Yes, if they both retire, which is unlikely, right? That's quite a large collision that must happen to take both drivers out of the race. and if you think collisions can just be a front wing change. A bit like Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri

at the first corner of last year's Grand Prix. Just throwing that one into the mix. Yes, indeed. I hear your point. I don't think Oscar Piastri is also thinking that Max, should Oscar be ahead of Max Verstappen? Max Verstappen is treating Oscar Piastri just like he would Lando Norris

and he is dive-bombing the life out of him no matter what. So I don't think it changes much. Unless it's Lando Max Oscar on the grid, that's the top three, then yes, you can expect some Max shenanigans, 100%. So, yeah, of course, Oscar's biggest hope is something happening between his two title rivals for sure. And finally, on Oscar Piastri,

percentage of how likely he is to win the title. So it will add up to 100% across the three drivers. I am locking in for Oscar Piastri a 10% chance. of winning the World Championship. It is a massive outside shot and it's going to have to require something crazy as we've mentioned. So 10%.

I will go for 4%. Oh, God's sake. Why couldn't you just make it easy? Why couldn't you've done it in like divisions of 5%? I go 5%. Because you're going to then come to the end and it will come to 121%.

Hey, I got a sea of GCSEMA. Yeah, I'll go 5%. 5%. Okay, all right. Sebastian Vettel has won from further back, so we shall see. True. Thank you, everyone, for listening to this episode. Join us for part two,

where we'll be talking about the man who might be about to pull off the most unbelievable comeback in the history of Formula One. See you tomorrow. P1 is a Stack production and part of the ACAST creator network.