Oscar Piastri can become the first driver to win the FIA Formula 1, F2 and F3 titles this year if the McLaren star sees out his eight-point lead over his teammate Lando Norris.
No driver has yet secured the clean sweep of titles since F2 and F3 were rebranded from the GP2 and GP3 Series respectively in 2019 and 2017. No driver who won the GP3 title has also gone on to get an F1 title yet, while Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg won F1 and GP2 titles.
So, Piastri is in a position to make history by adding the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship to his 2020 F3 and 2021 F2 titles, both of which the 24-year-old lifted as a rookie. Piastri is eight points clear of Norris after the first 12 of the 24 rounds due to be run in the 2025 F1 season.
Piastri would also become the 56th driver in 76 seasons to win the F1 title after leading the championship at the midway point if the Australian sees out his minor advantage. Hamilton was the last driver to fail to win the title after leading at the midway stage of the 2021 term.
Photo by Jay Hirano/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty ImagesOscar Piastri is not the F1 champion ‘we’d like’ as he lacks Lando Norris’ personality
But Tom Coronel does not believe Piastri is the driver who people want to see become an F1 champion this season compared to his McLaren teammate, Norris. The Dutchman thinks the Melbourne native lacks the personality needed and would be a ‘silent’ champion, if he wins.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
Position Drivers’ Championship PointsPts 1 234 2 226 3 165 4 147
Coronel even thinks Norris should win the championship this term, but Piastri could triumph by capitalising on the 25-year-old’s mistakes. The Briton has made a flurry of blunders this season, including when Norris drove into Piastri and crashed out of the Canadian Grand Prix.
“With his experience and everything that comes with it, he should be the one,” Coronel has told RacingNews365. “But Piastri could still be the smartest by simply waiting for Lando’s mistakes and capitalising on them. And then, on average, at the end of the year he’ll have a few more points, and then he’ll become one of those silent champions.”
But while Norris has made a number of mistakes to leave himself behind in the standings to Piastri, Coronel likes that the Briton at least tries to make a difference unlike the Australian. So, while Piastri might go on to win the title this term, he is not the champion people want.
“At least he tries,” Coronel continued. “Piastri doesn’t. He waits, waits and waits… He’ll be a quiet world champion, one we won’t hear from or see. He’s not disruptive, but he does his job, is smart and he’s fast. He’s not the flamboyant world champion we’d like to see, but he could very well become one. He doesn’t get distracted by things around him.”
Lando Norris could lose in back-to-back F1 championship fights due to his own mistakes
Norris responded perfectly to crashing into Piastri in Canada by winning the Austrian Grand Prix from pole position in the following round. The Briton even slashed the Australian’s lead to eight points as Norris won the British Grand Prix after Piastri’s time penalty at Silverstone.
But the Bristol native’s mistakes could see him lose in back-to-back F1 championship fights, having finished second to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in 2024 after leaving points on the table throughout the year. Norris made a raft of mistakes, but also paid for McLaren’s errors.
READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
If Norris does not win the F1 title this term, he might feel he only has himself to blame after blowing a 23-point lead after round one when Piastri recovered to P9 after spinning out of P2 in the rain in Australia. It took Piastri just four Grands Prix and an F1 Sprint to lead by 10.
Piastri won three of the four Grands Prix after the Australian GP, while Norris called himself ‘clueless’ after qualifying P6 in Bahrain and an ‘idiot’ for crashing during Q3 in Saudi Arabia. Norris lost control of his car during qualifying in Jeddah by trying to match Piastri at Turn 4.
The Briton’s errors in qualifying also continued and Damon Hill asked Norris, ‘What are you doing?’, after blowing his Q3 lap in Canada. Norris even admitted that he made, ‘Too many mistakes’, during qualifying and claimed he made, ‘A fool of myself’, by crashing into Piastri.
Were it not for Piastri’s penalty for a safety car restart infringement, Norris would likely have paid the price for another poor qualifying at Silverstone, as well. McLaren saw Norris qualify P3 for the British Grand Prix, while Piastri secured P2, after he made a small error at Turn 3.