Oscar Piastri could be at a slight disadvantage come the final race of the year in the F1 season, with the Aussie driver set to step aside for the practice run for a rookie driver in Abu Dhabi. Piastri had a major opportunity to cut the gap to Lando Norris at the top of the Drivers’ Championship in Qatar last weekend, only for McLaren’s poor strategy to not pit during the safety car just about costing him the podium.
This allowed Max Verstappen to build a lead and the Aussie driver couldn’t chase down the Red Bull driver in time having finished second. Norris ended up in fourth after a tough race. This was not the best result for Piastri considering he was clearly the fastest all weekend and could have entered the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi with a real chance of taking home the title.
Oscar Piastri (pictured left) could be at a slight disadvantage come the final race of the year having to give up his FP1 seat to rookie Pato O’Ward in Abu Dhabi. (Images: Getty Images)
He still has a slim chance, but it could become harder in Abu Dhabi with the McLaren driver forced to sit out FP1 due to F1 rules. At the Mexico Grand Prix, Norris and eight other drivers gave up their seat in practice to a young replacement.
F1 rules state a team’s car must give up a seat twice a year to a rookie driver – twice each for both cars. Norris sat out for the last time in Mexico as Piastri got an extra run through the track without his teammate on the course.
However, Piastri has not sat out twice in the 2025 season yet and the Aussie will need to give up a practice session in the final race of the year at the Abu Dhabi GP. The timing might not be ideal considering Piastri is still in the title hunt, and he won’t get the full weekend in the car at such a crucial stage.
Rookie Pato O’Ward replaced Norris in Mexico and will now replace Piastri. The Mexico GP event is considered one of the best opportunities to hand a rookie driver a run considering it’s a relatively straight-forward circuit with no sprint events.
The same is said of Abu Dhabi. However, it doesn’t appear to work in Piastri’s favour. While this is only a slight setback, it does give his rivals an extra practice session to adjust to the course. Neither Norris or Red Bull driver Verstappen have to give up their seat with the trio in a close battle for the championship.
Pato O’Ward (pictured) is set to take Oscar Piastri’s seat at FP1 in Abu Dhabi.
There are still seven other teams that will need to sit out a driver for FP1 in the final event of the year. If a team starts the season with a rookie driver, like Mercedes, they only have to hand over one car twice.
Fans are feeling for Piastri, considering the tactics from McLaren in Qatar, but the team have once again doubled down on the instructions the teammates are free to race in the season finale. Verstappen has the ability to finish as the champion in 2025, despite looking out of the race halfway through the season. The Red Bull driver is 12 points behind Norris and four ahead of Piastri. If Norris fails to podium, and Verstappen wins, he take home the title.
Oscar Piasti and Lando Norris free to race
This has prompted suggestions over whether McLaren will ask Piastri to support Norris if need be during the race. However, McLaren boss Andrea Stella said their philosophy won’t change for the final race of the season.
“When it comes to the fact that we have two drivers in the quest for the World Championship, our philosophy and our approach will not change,” he said after Qatar. “We will leave both Oscar and Lando the possibility to compete and pursue their aspiration.”
Stella mentioned the last time three drivers were in for a chance to win the title only for the unlikely winner to emerge. This happened with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and Sebastian Vettel in 2010.
“Oscar, from a points point of view, is definitely in condition to win the title,” Stella said. “We have seen before in the history of Formula One that when you have this kind of situation, sometimes it’s the third one that actually wins.
“We have seen it, I think, in 2007, in 2010, and Oscar is fast. I think he deserves to be able to just realise his performance. We will let the drivers be in condition to race each other. What’s important for us is that we are in condition to beat Verstappen with one of our two drivers.”