![\"Piastri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/XPB_1363903_HiRes.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri says he is confident he can win the 2025 World Championship. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri says he is confident he can win the 2025 World Championship. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
The Melbourne driver arrives in Hungary with momentum after a commanding victory in Belgium \u2014 his sixth win of the year<\/a> \u2014 and leads the championship standings ahead of teammate Lando Norris.<\/p>\n The Hungaroring also marks a sentimental milestone for the 24-year-old, who claimed his maiden grand prix victory<\/a> at the circuit one year ago.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been 17 years since McLaren last won the drivers\u2019 championship.<\/p>\n That was with Lewis Hamilton, who claimed the title in a dramatic conclusion in 2008 at Interlagos when he defeated Felipe Massa with a last lap pass on Timo Glock.<\/p>\n Asked if he could win the title, Piastri didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of confidence in myself that I can do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNot every weekend has been perfect, but there\u2019s not many weekends in my whole life that have been perfect.<\/p>\n \u201cJust trying to put together a solid, consistent year is ultimately going to be important. The pace in the last few weekends, especially Spa, I\u2019ve been very confident in and very proud of.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m more than capable of continuing that for the rest of the year. I\u2019m confident that I can do it, but it\u2019s not going to be easy.\u201d<\/p>\n Piastri\u2019s win in Belgium reinforced McLaren\u2019s dominance, and with the team leading both championships, he said his title fight is primarily with teammate Lando Norris.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery weekend now, or the last few weekends anyway, it has been Lando and I,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cClearly, Lando and I are in the same car, which is the best, and he\u2019s naturally going to be the close competition.\u201d<\/p>\n And while Piastri acknowledged the intra-team duel, he\u2019s wary of writing off others just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cI expect our competition to still be strong and put up a good fight, especially at certain tracks through the rest of the year,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether that comes from Max or Ferrari or Mercedes or someone else, we never really know.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not too concerned about what happens in that. I\u2019m just trying to win each race and extend the lead.\u201d<\/p>\n With 10 races remaining after Hungary and the championship entering a decisive phase, Piastri said his focus is on being fast and making as few mistakes as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can be consistent, but if you\u2019re consistently coming second, that\u2019s not very useful,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to have both. At the level of the field and the level of my teammate, you need to bring your best.<\/p>\n \u201cInevitably, when you\u2019re pushing that hard, there are going to be mistakes here and there because it doesn\u2019t come without risk.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t afford to take things easy and try and be consistent. You need to push and you need to be quick.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, you try and execute as best as you can, but you need both to win the championship. You can\u2019t just rely on one.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the start of the season, McLaren has let its drivers race freely, and Piastri confirmed that hasn\u2019t changed despite the high stakes and the team\u2019s history of intense rivalries.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been free to race from race one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody knows the history of Senna and Prost and that rivalry, and other rivalries outside of McLaren. You don\u2019t really need an example to set the culture that we have at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re both very conscious that we want this opportunity of having the car and the team in this position for many years to come.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way we can help as drivers apart from driving fast is by giving the team good morale and good confidence and making it a good team environment.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s very important for us this year and going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve all seen how it can go wrong, but we have a lot of reasons to push for it to not go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Piastri also reflected on how far he\u2019s come since his breakthrough win in Hungary last season.<\/p>\n The Aussie has added seven more wins since that maiden victory, including a record-breaking six this season \u2014 the most ever by an Australian in a single F1 campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said he believes his strong form has come from being more consistently able to perform at his peak.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, I felt like I had some weekends that were very strong and felt like I had enough to win races on my good days,\u201d Piastri explained.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there were a lot of average and sometimes bad days in between.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year has been full of a lot more good days. I have improved as a driver, but I think I\u2019ve been able to get closer to what I think I\u2019m capable of more often.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been the biggest thing. It\u2019s not come from one specific area. It\u2019s come from looking at lots of different things.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to execute what I think is my best more and more often, that\u2019s been the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n