McLaren Puzzled by Oscar Piastri ‘Anomaly’ During F1 Title Wobble

Oscar Piastri’s bid for the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship has hit a surprising slump, with McLaren team principal Andrea Stella describing the Australian’s recent struggles as “quite anomalous.”

After winning the Dutch Grand Prix, Piastri held a commanding 34-point lead over teammate Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings. However, in the six races since, a mix of inconsistent results and unfortunate circumstances has seen that advantage turn into a 24-point deficit, with only 83 points left to fight for.

Across that stretch, Piastri’s finishes include third, fourth, and three fifth places, alongside two DNFs in the Austin and São Paulo Sprints. Norris, meanwhile, has surged with two victories, a Sprint win, and multiple podiums to seize control of the title race.

Confidence Hit After Team Orders

Piastri recently admitted that team orders during the Italian Grand Prix, when he was instructed to swap positions back with Norris, dented his confidence heading into the Azerbaijan GP. That weekend marked the beginning of his downturn a crash in qualifying, a jump-start penalty, and another crash on the opening lap of the race.

Stella: “A Sustained Sequence of Similar Conditions”

Speaking to media, Stella explained that McLaren believes Piastri’s form dip is linked to a run of low-grip circuits such as Baku, Austin, and Mexico City that have exposed a specific sensitivity in his driving style.

“This sustained sequence of similar conditions is quite anomalous,” said Stella.
“That you have had the tyres and the grip behaving like we have at the last three events is weird, and the sport is so competitive that the difference is in the last one percent.”

The McLaren boss added that even small variations in track surface and tyre behaviour can make a major difference, particularly for younger drivers still adapting to the car’s nuances.

“Even if we say, ‘Oh, Oscar has been here in Brazil,’ it’s only his third time driving here, and every year the conditions are subtly different,” Stella continued.
“With Lando, it took time for him to adapt to how the MCL39 was behaving understanding what the front tyres were doing, where the limit of grip was, and when the car was flicking to oversteer. It’s so marginal.”

The Road Ahead

Despite the recent dip, McLaren remains confident Piastri can rebound in the final stretch of the season, with upcoming races in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi offering a mix of track characteristics that could better suit his style.

With only a handful of races left and the title fight still open, Piastri’s ability to rediscover his early-season form could determine whether McLaren’s first drivers’ championship challenge in over a decade goes down to the wire.

From F1 news to tech, history to opinions, F1 Chronicle has a free Substack. To deliver the stories you want straight to your inbox, click here.

For more F1 news and videos, follow us on Microsoft Start.

New to Formula 1? Check out our Glossary of F1 Terms, and our Beginners Guide to Formula 1 to fast-track your F1 knowledge