It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
And compared to his adversaries, his career really has been brief.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763806450_225_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Though Norris is less than 17 months Piastri\u2019s 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\u2019t make his Formula 1 debut until 2023.<\/p>\n
Despite their comparable victory tallies, Norris has more than twice as many grands prix under his belt, boasting 150 starts to Piastri\u2019s 68.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s relative inexperience is emerging as one explanation for his slide down the championship table.<\/p>\n
Piastri\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Fox Sports at the launch of the F1 Exhibition in Melbourne and ahead of this weekend\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019ll admit that it was still a big learning curve, still a big jump, from Formula 2 to Formula 1,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just physically, not just in terms of the pace of the car and the force that it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
PIT TALK PODCAST: McLaren left Las Vegas with no points after having both cars disqualified for running illegally low. With winner Max Verstappen now just 24 points behind Lando Norris is the drivers title at risk this weekend in Qatar?<\/p>\n
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\u2019s comfortably the most demanding calendar in international-level motorsport.<\/p>\n
As the sport grows in popularity and as Piastri\u2019s stature has grown, his calendar has become only more punishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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\u2019re going through jet lag at demanding circuits,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s learnt a lot from his first two years, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The grind of Formula 1\u2019s equal-longest season takes a mental toll too.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdd in travel pressure to that, add in media pressure, add in marketing commitments, add in the fact that you\u2019ve got to be, in Oscar\u2019s case, in Woking having engineering meetings and being in the sim, and then you\u2019ve got to spend time with your family and your girlfriend \u2014 life gets busy very quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of pressure on these guys at the top end of the sport, and people shouldn\u2019t underrate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The role of a Formula 1 physiotherapist encompasses far more than just a driver\u2019s physical wellbeing. A driver spends more time with their physio than almost any other person, forming a tight allyship that bridges the roles of mentor, friend and confidant.<\/p>\n
Explaining the McLaren disqualification | 04:57<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of my role was to help guide Oscar into becoming a professional F1 driver, not just a rookie F1 driver \u2014 someone that can compete for a world championship,\u201d Keedle says.<\/p>\n
\u201cImagine being 21 and getting thrown into Formula 1; that\u2019s a lot of pressure on a young man.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019s a daunting prospect getting thrown into that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcLaren are also very good at developing young drivers \u2014 they\u2019ve done that with Lando.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019ve seen this year as a year three driver. It\u2019s been very impressive to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That he\u2019s competing for the crown itself is remarkable; if he were to win it, it would be deeply impressive.<\/p>\n
Keedle isn\u2019t worried that he may end this season empty-handed, however.<\/p>\n
Having witnessed Piastri\u2019s growth up close in Formula 2 and his first two seasons in Formula 1, it\u2019s clear to him that the Melburnian is brimming with potential that will surely see his rise continue in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow high is the ceiling?\u201d he says when asked how much better Piastri could still get. \u201cOscar\u2019s very talented, he\u2019s very driven and he\u2019s very ambitious.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he\u2019s in good environment, then he can be as good as he wants to be, quite honestly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s still young, he still has a lot to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri has learnt a lot in his not-quite three seasons in Formula 1. Piastri led the title…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2095,177155,1724,64,63,689,2791,18257,163494,33102,177161,177160,16177,817,813,816,653,174556,14211,177157,177159,177162,1737,2623,133420,20939,30964,174548,825,177158,647,2184,23956,2627,2041,2067,677,155948,2119,16260,177156,85,18508,175486,43367,152571,2614,660,12000,2798],"class_list":["post-312883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-america","tag-ann-webber","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-central-america","tag-championship-contention","tag-championship-decider","tag-championship-table","tag-comparable-victory-tallies","tag-developing-young-drivers","tag-drivers-title","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-fox-sports-news","tag-geoff-smith","tag-grands-prix","tag-international-level-motorsport","tag-junior-champion","tag-junior-title-winner","tag-lando-norris","tag-las-vegas","tag-learning-curve","tag-life-lessons","tag-life-skills","tag-luke-doherty","tag-max-verstappen","tag-media-pressure","tag-melbourne","tag-mexico","tag-mexico-city","tag-nevada","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-performance-manager","tag-pit-talk","tag-qatar","tag-relative-inexperience","tag-sports","tag-title-contention","tag-title-run-in","tag-title-table","tag-title-winner","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-victoria","tag-western-asia","tag-world-titles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}