Martin Brundle believes that Oscar Piastri was \u201cmisread\u201d in F1 2025. According to Brundle, Piastri is not as \u201cstone cold, horizontal\u201d as thought.<\/p>\n
But, Brundle regards Piastri<\/a> as a World Champion of the future, despite that setback of his title defeat to McLaren teammate Lando Norris. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella went a step further, and predicted \u201cmultiple\u201d titles in the future of Piastri.<\/p>\n Oscar Piastri \u2018misread\u2019, claims Martin Brundle<\/p>\n Piastri hoovered up titles on the junior scene, and for large parts of F1 2025, it appeared as though he was set to become Formula 1 World Champion in just his third season.<\/p>\n Piastri was 34 points clear out front after Zandvoort, but fell into a run of six grands prix without a podium. That included a very uncharacteristic error-strewn Azerbaijan GP. Piastri crashed in qualifying, and crashed out in the early stages of the race.<\/p>\n Slowly, the unflappable aura which had surrounded Piastri became increasingly challenged. Brundle believes Piastri is not as impervious as originally thought.<\/p>\n Despite a return to form over the final two rounds, the title was won by Norris.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had that fallow period where he wasn\u2019t scoring much from Baku onwards,\u201d Brundle said of Piastri on Sky F1.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got to try not to, but you can\u2019t help but think, one rainy corner in his backyard in Melbourne\u2026 He was so unlucky to go off onto the grass and lose so many points there.<\/p>\n \u201cOr two hard penalties on him in Silverstone and Brazil, that could have easily been mitigated into five-second penalties or no penalties. There are a number of little turning points.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you can\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n \u201cSo now, I think he\u2019s got to work out where he can be stronger and work more closely with the team and just draw a line under it. Easier said than done.\u201d<\/p>\n Brundle added: \u201cWhat we have to remember is he has 82 races less experience than Lando. That\u2019s three-and-a-half-seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine how much Lando has improved in the last three-and-a-half seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a future World Champion. I have no doubt about that, Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, I think we might have misread him a little bit as well, I thought. He sort of went on the missing list a little bit for six races, threw it in the wall in Baku, and lost his head a little bit.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not absolutely stone cold, horizontal. I think he soaks a little bit as well. We misread him.\u201d<\/p>\n Nico Rosberg, the 2016 World Champion, turned Brundle\u2019s Sky F1 colleague, still regards Piastri as one of the very best, mentally, which F1 has to offer.<\/p>\n \u201cMentally, he is so strong,\u201d Rosberg stated. \u201cI would consider him one of the strongest out there, just so level-headed.\u201d<\/p>\n Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: Final head-to-head standings<\/p>\n F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates<\/a><\/p>\n While Brundle considers Piastri a future World Champion, Stella believes \u201cmultiple\u201d await his driver.<\/p>\n \u201cLando is Champion. Effectively, we could have had two champions this year. The gap between the two was so small,\u201d Stella told Sky F1.<\/p>\n \u201cI said after qualifying [in Abu Dhabi], I think it was 30 milliseconds, that was the whole story of a season. 30 milliseconds in qualifying. Always so close on track.<\/p>\n \u201cOscar was a worthwhile champion, and he was worthwhile champion [in his] third season in Formula 1. He learned so rapidly. He had a couple of races where he struggled a bit in the famous low-grip tracks. He learned very rapidly what to do. He became immediately competitive again.<\/p>\n \u201cHis trajectory is phenomenal, and definitely we have a future multiple World Champion in Oscar.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n