Oscar Piastri talks on the turnaround from practice to qualifying and the race in F1 Dutch GP, as he states he is not counting out Lando Norris at all.
It didn’t start off that well for McLaren’s Piastri on Friday in F1 Dutch GP at Zandvoort. He was down on teammate Norris, which was marginal but still behind. He stepped up on Saturday and with a bit of luck, denied the Brit pole by 0.012s, which was crucial eventually.
He had track position at the start and with Norris tucked behind, the Brit lost to Max Verstappen and had to regain the position. In the meantime, Piastri managed to control well and even though Norris got on his tail for most part, the Australian had enough to keep his nose ahead.
It was a typical weekend for Piastri, where he improved as the weekend progressed and eventually peaked when it mattered the most and with Norris’ DNF, it only helped his title cause. “It was a really good race,” he said. “Felt like I was in control the whole time. Obviously, the restarts are always tough moments to get right, but I felt in control.
“It wasn’t the best start I’ve ever had and had to cover the inside. Obviously, I knew Max was on softs and was keeping an eye on him. And then going through Turn 2 and into Turn 3 I saw Max very sideways in my mirrors. I was just hoping that he wasn’t going to run into the side of me, but it worked out fine. From then on, I could bring the tyres in and control it. And then I was pretty happy.
“The first [re-start] one worked very well, but then the next two, you don’t have many options left to you. I think the longer you leave it, especially once you get into the pit straight, everyone knows you’re going to go sooner or later. So, I was just trying to change it up as much as I could. Didn’t work that well on the last two, but it was just enough. That was probably the hardest part, but I think we managed it well.
“Obviously, the ending was unfortunate for Lando and the team to not have a one-two when I think we really deserved it. But from my side, very proud of the week we put together, being quick when it mattered. So very happy. I think qualifying was the key this weekend. Through the free practice sessions, it was looking like a difficult Zandvoort again, but we chipped away, tried to find time, tweak the car here and there, but just tried to really improve how I was driving because, let’s be honest, it’s pretty hard to complain about the car we’ve got.
“So just tried to chip away with that and it came good when it mattered. And through the race today, I felt like I had good pace as well and used that when I needed to. So massively proud of firstly myself, but also the whole team around me in turning it around from 12 months ago,” summed up Piastri, elaborated on Stella’s ‘Oscar-like weekend’ comment on step-by-step improvement.
It is in line with some other weekends where he has had to come back on Norris to snatch pole and or win away. “It’s happened a few times this year where it started a bit slow and then gotten better as the weekend’s gone on,” continued Piastri. “The difference from this year to last year is last year, those weekends that started slow, the middle was slow, and the end was slow.
“I think it’s just been good to actually find the time as the weekend’s gone on. Is it an ideal way? Am I doing it on purpose? Not always. I’m trying to build up to things, of course, but was hoping to build up a bit quicker than I did this weekend. I got there just in the end in Q3, but I didn’t go into qualifying the most optimistic.
“So maybe a little bit slow to get there, but I felt very happy with where I was going into qualifying, not expecting the world, just trying to do my best and see what happened. And in the end that was enough, and a similar thing today. Very happy from that side of things, and I think that part is probably the ‘Oscar-like weekend’,” summed up Piastri, who is not ruling out Norris, even though the lead has stretched to 34 points, with just nine races and three sprint races to go.
He insists the relation has changed either, even though they are in a title fight. “No, I don’t think so [I can play around],” said Piastri. “There’s still a long way to go. I need to keep pushing and trying to win races still. I wouldn’t say it’s a very comfortable margin. As we saw today, it can change with one DNF very, very quickly. So this far out from the end of the year, it’s not a comfortable gap.
“Also, the relationship between Lando and I has not changed. If anything, we know each other better now and actually probably get on better than before. Anytime you get mentioned in the same sentence as Michael Schumacher, that’s a good thing. I’ve got a hell of a long way to go to be talked about in the same air as someone like him, but I’ll take it,” summed up Piastri, who relayed the significance of having Mark Webber at his side after equaling his nine wins in F1.
He credits the Australian’s help in understanding lots of nuances in F1 which he didn’t know about. “Yeah, he’s been very helpful through my whole career, certainly the last five years,” continued Piastri. “I think once I got into Formula 1, that’s where his help has really been a lot greater and more clear. Before I got to F1 it was more in the background, helping with making the right decisions and bits of advice here and there.
“When I got to F1, he knew how it works and thinking of or asking questions that hadn’t even come into my head. Helping me set expectations and prepare me for how tough it’s going to be and how big of a step it is. That side of things he has been very helpful with, and that hasn’t changed in the last three years. There’s still been progress to make, things to improve, and I’m still gaining experience even now.
“Still not perfect, always thinking of new things, things I wasn’t thinking of last year or the year before. So, it’s important having him by my side,” summed up Piastri. Team boss Stella had equal praise for the Australian’s drive in Zandvoort, which he thought was a typical one from the current F1 points leader, as they have seen in the course of his short career.
“I would say that Oscar’s weekend has been a characteristic weekend for Oscar because we have seen the characteristic of building up through the weekend in practice, cashing in the learning,” said Stella to media. “We have seen the delivery at the moment that counts, which is qualifying.
“And then we have seen that when it comes to the rain, he is characteristically quite comfortable, keeps the situations under control, pretty sharp in execution and while he does so, he remains always calm and lucid. So I think this is one of the, let me say, Oscars-like weekends. It proves his maturity and the level of his race craft as a Formula One driver.”
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-dutch-grand-prix-verstappen-jumps-norris-for-p2-as-piastri-leads-on-the-race-start.1841976754528582992
Here’s post-race from Oscar Piastri: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-dutch-grand-prix-piastri-crosses-the-line-to-take-his-seventh-victory-of-the-season.1841985674262254818
Here’s Lando Norris about Dutch GP DNF
Here’s how F1 Dutch GP panned out
