Piastri: Pressure in title race ‘will only increase from here’

Oscar Piastri insists he’s kept a level head through the opening half of the Formula 1 season, despite leading McLaren teammate Lando Norris in a razor-thin championship fight.

But the Australian also acknowledges that the stakes will climb sharply as the decisive run-in begins.

With six victories to Norris’s five from the opening 14 rounds, Piastri has carved out a slender nine-point lead in the standings.

While their on-track duels have occasionally bordered on explosive – Canada’s tangle and their elbows-out battles in Austria and Hungary spring to mind – Piastri maintains the pair’s relationship remains as steady as ever.

“Our relationship hasn’t really changed,” Piastri told McLaren’s official website ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix that will kick off the back half of the 2025 season.

“The competitive environment is quite different this year, yes, but our relationship is pretty much the same. The way we work together, how we try and help the team, and what we want from the car, it is all the same.

“I think we’re both very conscious that we want to have success with this team for a long time. That is not lost on either of us. Healthy competition is important, of course, but it is important to keep the team united, and I think we both have that in the back of our minds.”

Keeping the Title in Perspective

Now in his third Formula 1 season, Piastri admits he’s avoided getting too consumed by championship math so far – though he knows that luxury won’t last much longer.

“I would say I’ve handled it well, but this has been the part of the year when the pressure isn’t really on in the championship fight,” he reflected.

“Obviously, you don’t want to give away points, but it has been far too early to be thinking of the season in that way.

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"At this stage, you just want to go into the weekend trying to get the most out of it as you can, rather than thinking of the championship overall.

“So yes, I think I’ve handled it well, but I haven’t concentrated on it much.”

But with just ten rounds remaining, he knows the atmosphere is about to change.

“The pressure is only going to increase from here. When we get to the latter part of the year, that is when the pressure will ramp up.”

McLaren’s Double Push

While Piastri and Norris are locked in a private duel for individual glory, their efforts have powered McLaren to a dominant position in the constructors’ standings.

With more than twice the points of Ferrari, the Woking squad is cruising towards back-to-back teams’ titles for the first time since 1991.

For Piastri, though, the job remains simple: keep cool under pressure, deliver results, and let the championship picture take care of itself—at least until the late-season crunch arrives.

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