Oscar Piastri has learnt a lot in his not-quite three seasons in Formula 1.

Piastri led the title table for 15 rounds this season, and though he lost his advantage in Mexico City at the end of October, he remains in championship contention with two rounds to go.

His gap to teammate Lando Norris stands at 24 points with two rounds remaining.

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It’s a tough but not impossible task, though it will challenge Piastri to summon every lesson from his brief career to haul himself over the line first.

And compared to his adversaries, his career really has been brief.

Though Norris is less than 17 months Piastri’s senior, the Englishman made his debut in 2019, when the Australian was still competing in Formula Renault Eurocup, a category wedged between Formula 4 and Formula 3. Piastri wouldn’t make his Formula 1 debut until 2023.

Despite their comparable victory tallies, Norris has more than twice as many grands prix under his belt, boasting 150 starts to Piastri’s 68.

Max Verstappen, tied on points with Piastri, is even longer in the tooth, boasting 231 starts, 69 victories and four world titles nearing the end of his 11th campaign.

The Formula 1 learning curve is steep, and as the dissection of the season begins ahead of what could be a title-deciding weekend in Qatar, Piastri’s relative inexperience is emerging as one explanation for his slide down the championship table.

Piastri’s former performance manager and physiotherapist, Kim Keedle, helped guide the Australian from Formula 2 and into Formula 1 before returning home to Australia this year.

Speaking to Fox Sports at the launch of the F1 Exhibition in Melbourne and ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, Keedle emphasised that the length and difficulty of the journey from junior champion to Formula 1 title winner was too often underestimated.

“I think he’ll admit that it was still a big learning curve, still a big jump, from Formula 2 to Formula 1,” he says.

“It’s not just physically, not just in terms of the pace of the car and the force that it’s giving you, but how mentally demanding media is and how mentally demanding marketing is and all of these extra things that come with being a professional F1 driver.”

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The duration of the Formula 1 schedule is one of the biggest differences outside the machinery. Running to 24 rounds that dot the globe, it’s comfortably the most demanding calendar in international-level motorsport.

As the sport grows in popularity and as Piastri’s stature has grown, his calendar has become only more punishing.

“The schedule is very taxing, especially this second half of the season after the August shutdown, because you have so many international races and so many moments when you’re going through jet lag at demanding circuits,” he says.

“It’s a fatiguing year, and part of the way that you have to be successful driver is to be able to withstand the requirements of a Formula 1 season over the course of the year and perform consistently.

“I’m sure he’s learnt a lot from his first two years, that’s for sure.”

The grind of Formula 1’s equal-longest season takes a mental toll too.

“Add in travel pressure to that, add in media pressure, add in marketing commitments, add in the fact that you’ve got to be, in Oscar’s case, in Woking having engineering meetings and being in the sim, and then you’ve got to spend time with your family and your girlfriend — life gets busy very quickly.

“There’s a lot of pressure on these guys at the top end of the sport, and people shouldn’t underrate that.”

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“Part of my role was to help guide Oscar into becoming a professional F1 driver, not just a rookie F1 driver — someone that can compete for a world championship,” Keedle says.

“Imagine being 21 and getting thrown into Formula 1; that’s a lot of pressure on a young man.

“I think he learnt a lot of life lessons and life skills about being independent and having good autonomy prior to that, so I think that held him in good stead, but of course it’s a daunting prospect getting thrown into that.

“He’s also very lucky that he has Mark and Ann Webber with him as well who are very experienced in this space. He had a really good team around him.

“McLaren are also very good at developing young drivers — they’ve done that with Lando.

“I think it was a great environment for him to be in, but for sure there was a big learning curve, and one of the reasons that Oscar has been so successful to date is he just keeps learning year on year and developing from a year one driver to a year two driver to what we’ve seen this year as a year three driver. It’s been very impressive to watch.”

The physical and psychological rigours of competition reframe the idea that Piastri could walk away from just his third season in the sport with the world title.

That he’s competing for the crown itself is remarkable; if he were to win it, it would be deeply impressive.

Keedle isn’t worried that he may end this season empty-handed, however.

Having witnessed Piastri’s growth up close in Formula 2 and his first two seasons in Formula 1, it’s clear to him that the Melburnian is brimming with potential that will surely see his rise continue in 2026 and beyond.

“How high is the ceiling?” he says when asked how much better Piastri could still get. “Oscar’s very talented, he’s very driven and he’s very ambitious.

“If he’s in good environment, then he can be as good as he wants to be, quite honestly.

“He’s still young, he still has a lot to achieve.”