(Motorsport-Total.com) – Exactly one year ago, Oscar Piastri came to Monza as the title favorite. After his teammate Lando Norris retired in Zandvoort, he led by 34 points over the Briton – but from that weekend on, the 2025 Formula 1 season started to go wrong for him. Piastri ultimately lost the world championship and finished the season only in 3rd place, behind Norris and Max Verstappen.
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While several weak performances and mistakes cost him a considerable number of points, some decisions by McLaren may also have harmed the Australian’s title chances. One of the most discussed occurred in Monza, when Piastri was asked to let Norris pass on track after a slow pit stop had cost the Briton time.
The two had been fighting for second place in this race, with Norris leading Piastri for long stretches. But a problem during his pit stop held him up and effectively cost him the position to Piastri. The subsequent team order, which the Australian obeyed, sparked a debate in the paddock about whether the team favored Norris.
Team principal Andrea Stella explained at the time that the decision was in line with McLaren’s internal “Papaya rules.” Nevertheless, some believed that Piastri should not have followed the instruction.
How Piastri evaluates Monza 2025 today
But with a year’s distance, Piastri still believes he acted correctly back then: “I don’t think there was a single thing that caused the final phase of last year to be difficult,” he says. “It was different things from week to week, and yes, you always think about what other decisions you could have made. But as far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t change anything about how I reacted and how I dealt with last year. So yes, there’s nothing to change.”
Piastri has not won another Formula 1 race since. After missing the title last year, he has clearly lacked pace compared to Norris this season. It is believed that many of the problems the Australian is currently struggling with are related to his driving style.
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Team principal Andrea Stella already explained weeks ago that Piastri has to apply some techniques that do not come naturally to him. He also had difficulties on low-grip tracks. Since the 2026 cars produce less downforce, the same pattern seems to have continued.
Piastri: He has felt progress since Zandvoort
Piastri himself says it’s not that simple. However, he believes he is increasingly unlocking more pace, pointing to the progress he made two weeks ago in qualifying at Zandvoort: “It’s not that the same problem keeps occurring,” he says. “It’s more that we are always looking for something a little different. And yes, we have to try to find it a bit faster – both myself and the team around me.”
“But I think the positive thing about Zandvoort was that at least qualifying looked significantly better and was back at the level it should be. And the process we are currently going through is simply about trying to transfer that to the races as well.”
“Of course, the car behaves very differently in a race than over a single lap, but I feel that we have some pretty good answers as to why Zandvoort in particular was difficult. So yes, I think we are making good progress there. We just need time and some experiments to find things that will make us faster. But I am confident that we will find the right answers and a way forward.”
Before the race in Monza, Piastri is seventh in the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship with 104 points, 55 points behind his teammate Norris, who is fourth with 159 points.
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