P1 with Matt and Tommy Dec 2, 2025

Oscar Piastri: The 2025 Title Contenders

Annotations will appear as you listen

0:00

19:39

Car

Dodge Charger

LIVE

There are a million reasons people start therapy. A breakup, burnout, a new job, whatever your reason,

there is one place to start. Grow Therapy meets you where you are, with support that actually sticks.

Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, Grow makes it easier to find a

therapist who fits you, not the other way around. They connect you with thousands of

independent licensed therapists across the US, offering both virtual and in-person sessions,

nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity,

or availability and get started in as little as two days. And if something comes up, you can cancel

up to 24 hours in advance at no cost. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments,

you just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges

you're facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and

some pay as little as $0, depending on their plan. Grow accepts over 100 insurance plans,

including Medicaid in some states. Visit growtherapy.com slash start now today to get started.

That's growtherapy.com slash start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and

insurance plan. There's a fire inside you you can't ignore. Stand still,

not a chance. You're a lifelong learner who's come this far. Now we're here to help you keep

going further. Capella University, what can't you do? Visit capella.edu to learn more.

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the P1 Podcast with Matt and Tommy.

We're going to be diving into all three championship contenders.

Across three bonus podcast episodes, as a championship showdown doesn't come around

very often. The first since 2021 and the first with more than two drivers in the hunt since 2010.

Oh, we're getting down to crunch time now, aren't we, Tom Bellingham?

Insane. Yeah, as we've said many times before, drink it in and soak it up because this happens

so rarely in Formula One. So I hope you're looking forward to this one. I certainly am

looking forward to talking about this and just let's feed the hype. Leave a like,

subscribe to this channel. If you listen to audio, leave us a five-star review. If you're on

YouTube, leave us a like, subscribe. Let's get this pumping because I am absolutely

vibing with this and this shouldn't happen. This should not be the case,

but it is. And we're going to dive into all three drivers right now. So let's begin with Oscar

Piastri. I was going to say, in the red corner, but there's more than two drivers in the championship

fight. But Oscar Piastri is 16 points behind. He's had seven race victories in Bahrain, China,

Saudi, Miami, Spain, Spa, and Zandvoort with 15 podiums. So let's talk about Oscar Piastri

so far and his season. We thought for two-thirds of this Formula One championship that Oscar just

had it. Just about had it, right? He wasn't home and dry. He wasn't two, three race victories ahead,

but he had a comfortable buffer. And every time it sort of started to narrow back down and get

a bit closer with Lando, a big moment like Zandvoort came in or perhaps Canada, these

moments where you think, okay, well, Oscar's clearly just got the, he's the ice cold man,

as everyone was saying. Then it changed. And the last Bahrain Qatar, the last six, seven races

prior to that was championship losing form. So a very, it's not a tale of two halves,

it's a tale of two-thirds and one-third. Yeah, it's so true. Like if we go way back to the start of

the season, I think no one gave Oscar Piastri a shot, did they really? Like all the talk and

there's probably a bit of, you know, us being in the UK and the UK media, obviously, and us

watching it on UK TV. All the hype seemed to be around Lando Norris. Can he do it this time?

Came close last year, didn't do it. McLaren are looking absolutely amazing.

So can Lando win the world championship this year? Oscar had some really good moments in

the year in 2024, looked very quick, but he didn't have that consistency throughout the season.

And I don't think many people, I must admit, and me included, really gave him a chance and

thought he'd be in the world championship fight or be able to beat Lando based on what we

saw last year. Of course, he's still very new as well, only his third full season.

But my word was he impressive. Right from the get-go, really, obviously, Australia was a tiny

error which cost him big, big points. He was going to finish second behind Lando on the road

and was actually chasing him for the victory. And then we look at the amazing run of form

that he went on, as you mentioned, like reading out his victories. He won in China,

then was in that train in Japan, but then won in Bahrain, won in Saudi, won in Miami,

and we thought, wow, Oscar Piastri, where have you come from? And he was absolutely

sensational at the start of the year. He was. After Australia, he went on a run of one, two,

three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight podiums. Then he had a fourth in Canada,

then brings another six podiums home after that, and then we get to Azerbaijan.

Let's first and foremost, before we talk about perhaps more negative moments of

Oscar's season, let's go with what has been his best moment of the season. For me,

there's been a lot of highlights for Oscar, as you said. We were kind of

sat here going, whoa, Oscar, I was unfamiliar because there was just so many faultless victories.

His best moment of the season, I think in terms of championship swing, it has to be Zanvort.

That was the moment where I imagine he started to believe that he could be world champion.

Of course, it took Lando not to have a good weekend with his car

failing on him. I'd say that's up there, but then on the flip side of that,

I would say even the first win in China, bouncing back from Australia,

I know Lando had a break problem in China towards the end, but Oscar was,

that was like a statement drive. Of course, Lewis Hamilton won the sprint in China,

don't forget that, just wanted to mention that one, but the main race was

just such a statement drive from Oscar. He won just by just under 10 seconds. I know Lando

was managing at the end, but that was like a case of, oh, wow. Oscar could well have won Australia,

was at least on the pace. We're now in China and he's won that one as well.

It's difficult to pinpoint one for sure. It depends how you weigh it up.

Yeah, it's had a lot of impressive wins, which is why it's difficult to pinpoint one moment.

I think for me, Zanvort is, in terms of like, it felt like the championship that he was starting

to get his hands on it, but that was mainly because of the Lando failure.

It was, of course, a weekend that he was going to win anyway and was brilliant,

you know, pole position, fastest lap. In terms of like most impressive victories that the two

that stand out to me are Bahrain, where his teammate was really struggling, made errors,

and we, you know, we thought after the first round, and we'll talk about obviously Lando,

later, Oscar winning that race in Bahrain, getting pole position, getting fastest lap,

a comfortable victory, and Lando having struggles was a real like, okay, we need to

seriously consider Oscar Piastri as a world championship winner here, even that early

in the season, because as we said at the start, like he wasn't really

giving too much of a hoax, a contender, like as someone that can win, and the other one that

stands out for me is actually Spa, the Belgian Grand Prix, because Oscar Piastri had

just lost the British Grand Prix through an error of the Saved Car, which I'm sure we'll

get onto when we talk about his worst moments. And it's like, how is he going to bounce back?

And he made a fantastic start, overtook his teammate Lando, resisted the pressure from Lando

to take that victory. And at that moment, it's mad to be here thinking he'd only take

at this time of, you know, until we get to the final race, we don't know how it's going to go,

but only one more victory after that race and, you know, Spa, quite early-ish in the season,

you know, round 13 of 24, still a long way to go. But he was just looking so comfortable then,

I think that was such an impressive drive from him. It really was, yeah. Spa was a great

shout with it being wet to dry and plenty of reasons to make a mistake. Third season,

let's not forget as well, Oscar Piastri, he feels like part of the furniture these days,

but he is still very much learning and has been learning a lot this season, no doubt.

Let's go to worst moment of the year. Where do you place Oscar Piastri's worst moment?

Well, I'm sure everyone listening watching right now is going to say one word and that's Baku.

Of course, Baku, on paper, is his worst moment. For him to look like it was so

comfortable for him really, after Zambor, we thought the championship's won. A lot of

people were saying, oh, the championship's won. We said never count it out, but it was obviously

more than likely that he had a great opportunity to win it and was looking comfortable.

And he just had the absolute stinker of all weekends to crash in qualifying, crash in the

main race as well, on the first lap, jump the start as well and drop all the way to the back.

It really doesn't get much worse than that, but it's an insane thing to say that I'm not

actually going to pick it as the worst moment of the year because he was there with Lando and I think

the most shocking thing for me was Austin when he got to Austin and his pace was absolutely

nowhere. And it was like, why is there this massive gap now? And it's something he continued into,

of course, Mexico, Brazil. And I think that was a weird one because Baku,

it was obviously awful, had a really poor run, but he was matching Lando in terms of pace

before, of course, he crashed and had a nightmare. But Austin was like, what's happened to Oscar Piazzari?

Whereas all this Pacecon, he was so far off in qualifying and then so far off in the race.

And it was that moment where we thought, is Oscar really struggling here? Is this like...

And caused the crash in the sprint. And caused the crash, of course.

And crashed in the sprint in Brazil as well. There's so many, sadly,

unexpected lowlights for Oscar over the last seven or eight races. I have to lock in Baku,

that there's no, there's no other weekend that comes close, because literally everything went

wrong. And that was, we questioned it at that moment, that was the beginning of the end,

potentially, of his championship challenge. Unless there's something crazy that happens

in Abu Dhabi, from there on, he has not, or had not been on the podium until Qatar.

That is a disaster in terms of the fall off of form. But then, yeah, there are some

medium lowlights as well of just the pace. But crashing in the sprint in Brazil, crashing in

the sprint in Austin, of course, gets away with it with the fact that he took out Lando as well.

Although now Max Verstappen is the closest challenger to Lando. So is it really that good

at all these days for Oscar when he is now behind Max in the championship?

Now we're talking about this 104 points, that 104 points was to Oscar Piastri,

the Max Verstappen deficit. Max is now ahead. So Max has gained 108 points on Oscar, which is

insane. Ridiculous. So for Oscar, it's, I really hope for his sake, he's learned why

he's had that stint of six or seven races where he wasn't, wasn't on the pace.

Because if that becomes a consistent trend, or if the end of the season just isn't that good for him,

he will struggle to bring a world championship over the line. He isn't only his third season,

as we say. So there's plenty of time for him to continue to develop and learn.

But yeah, quite a few lowlights to mention, but Baku definitely takes the title that you don't

want as worst moment of the year. It made it so shocking as well. I think even more

shocking with how we saw it, because I think after Zanvo in particular, but even before this,

I think even the discussions before what happened in Zanvo, well Oscar Piastri obviously had that

amazing opportunity where he got 25 points on his title rival Lando Norris. All the talk was like

Oscar's so cool and calm that he is going to be the one that's not going to get nervous,

not make mistakes, not crack under the pressure of a world championship.

And yeah, it is that form, isn't it, that's really, really cost him towards the end.

This episode is sponsored by Better Help. February can feel like a lot. Everywhere you look,

it's flowers, chocolates, big romantic gestures, and it can start to feel like everyone else

has their love life together. But the truth is, whether you're married, dating, single, or just

focusing on yourself, lots of us are still figuring it out. No matter where you are on your romantic

journey, therapy can help you find your way, helping you understand what you want, what feels

heavy, and how to take some of that pressure off yourself. It can help you identify what's

weighing your relationships down, and find new ways to brighten them up again.

Better Help makes therapy easy. Their therapists are fully licensed in the US and work according

to a strict code of conduct. They also do the matching work for you. A short questionnaire

helps identify your needs and preferences, and with over 12 years of experience,

they typically get it right the first time. And if it's not the right fit,

you can switch therapists at any time. So if you're ready to take a little pressure

off yourself this February, sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com

slash P1Pod. That's B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P dot com slash P1Pod.

This episode is sponsored by eBay. The cars you'll find on eBay are just different.

They come with a story that you can't wait to share. Maybe it's the car history,

or the story of how you found it. Like this 1973 Dodge Charger on eBay that has been tucked away

in an Arizona barn for over 40 years. Only 55,000 miles, and somehow in great running order.

It even has a rare sunroof. Suddenly a car that was hidden for decades is uncovered on eBay and

ready to be delivered straight to your driveway, thanks to eBay's secure purchase,

the new seamless and secure way to buy your next car. In just a few clicks,

the title and DMV paperwork is all handled for you. There are thousands of cars like this on

eBay, from rare finds like the Pontiac Grand Prix SJ to unique builds and your next daily driver.

And now a new seamless way to buy them. eBay. Things. People. Love.

This episode is sponsored by Factor Meals. You want to eat better, but you've got zero time,

and honestly, zero energy. I feel you. But with Factor, it's not down to you to meal prep or

follow recipes, it just removes the entire problem. Two minutes, real food, done.

How often do you stare at your fridge at 9pm, exhausted, knowing that healthy cooking just

isn't going to happen? Standing there googling is cereal or protein? Healthy eating can be really

difficult if you don't want to give up three hours every night. Factor meals are made by chefs,

colorful veggies, healthy fats. The stuff you'd make if you had time. No refined sugars,

no artificial sweeteners, no refined seed oils. They've got 100 rotating meals every week.

High protein, calorie smart, Mediterranean, GLP-1 supports even a new muscle pro line,

so you can pick what fits your goals. Head to FactorMeals.com slash Matt and Tommy 50 off

and use code Matt and Tommy 50 off to get 50% off your first factor box plus free breakfast for

one year. That's FactorMeals.com slash Matt and Tommy 50 off. Offer only valid for new

factor customers with code and qualifying auto renewing subscription purchase.

Make healthier eating easy with Factor.

You know having a trusted partner makes all the difference. That's why hands down you count

on Granger for auto reordering. With on time restocks your team will have the cut resistant

gloves they need at the start of their shift. And you can end your day knowing they've got

safety well in hand. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Granger.com or just stop by.

Granger for the ones who get it done.

Why choose a sleep number smart bed? Can I make my site softer? Can I make my site firmer?

Can we sleep cooler? Sleep number does that. Cools up to eight times faster and lets you

choose your ideal comfort on either side. Your sleep number setting. Enjoy personalized

comfort for better sleep night after night. And now during our president's day sale take

50% off our limited edition bed. Shop now for a limited time. Only at a sleep number store

or sleepnumber.com.

So we're going to also look at the thing that could potentially have cost him the title. We'll

do it for the other two drivers as well. May well be similarly linked to worst moment of the year.

But for me, of course we have Abidabi to go. Qatar could well have been the thing that

changes it all. I know it would be 12 points to Lando that he'd still have to make up in Abidabi

but we could well reflect on that one. Baku is of course the one that's at the top of my list

again for this because it was a disaster but then again at the same time was it that many

points lost considering his pace? No. And Lando didn't pick up many but in terms of like

he wasn't running in the top three, four and then crashed. He was struggling for pace anyway.

So then you look all the way back to the first race of the season. When you look at actual points

lost to your championship rivals, Australia is probably number one because Lando finished first

and Max finished second. Of course that is the first race of the season. It feels like so,

so long ago. But if we're pinpointing moments where big point swings have happened,

that's one of them. Of course the retirement is a big swing in Max's favour in Azerbaijan

and then from then on obviously we've spoken about that sort of last third of the season. So

for me it still has to be Baku for now but Australia gets a notable mention.

I've got to throw Monza into the mix for me. I think there's two sides to it.

Yes, in terms of points it's not really a huge amount. You're just swapping between second

and third. I am adamant that something shifted with Oscar after that moment

because you look at his form, first, third, first, third, third, first, fourth, second,

second, first, second, first and then Monza, then it's retired fourth, fifth, fifth, fifth.

Like you can literally pinpoint the Italian Grand Prix as the moment where his form goes.

Some people will say, oh, you've got to deal with these things and that's part of being a driver,

but his form fell off so badly after that moment and it's a moment that is so controversial and

could still well be controversial if he loses the title by a handful of points because the

switch of course with Lando with the slow pit stop, he fully believed that they shouldn't have

switched and it put him in a really unfair position that he had to give position, a position back to

his teammate who'd had a slow pit stop and I think the whole media pressure and fall out and

everything over like the team want Lando to win, the team want Lando to win now.

Oscar's number two driver can't have helped his mentality and everything going into the

next few races. So I really do think Monza was such a big turning point. It's got to be up there.

Yep, that's a very fair point. Without that switch, all three are separated by 10 points.

Oscar would be one behind Max and Lando would be nine ahead. That is of Max Verstappen. That is

even crazier. It's crazy scenario to talk about and think about.

I also want to throw the thing I teased in driver ratings now of a scenario that might

have left us on the cliffhanger.

I did. What is it?

So this is insane mad thoughts, but I've not seen anyone mention it.

So we all know Oscar Piastri needs a miracle to win this title. Is it weirdly better for him

to be further behind Max Verstappen? So Max Verstappen has to throw everything on the line

against Lando because realistically the only way Oscar can win the title is if they both

DNF. And if Max Verstappen goes for a dive bomb and takes out Lando Norris,

is he doing that if he's further behind in the title or Oscar Piastri's closer and stuff?

So in a weird way, I think that is Oscar's chance to win the title that there's a collision.

And maybe, and we saw it with Sebastian Vettel, with Mark Webber and Alonzo,

two drivers focusing on each other in the title.

We've seen it before where like the forgotten driver can sometimes benefit from that,

that the two drivers are focused on themselves. So maybe it's not such a bad thing that Oscar

Piastri is almost like counted out because the expectation, he can just go for something

completely different or hope that his title rivals collide.

Yes. So he's 16 points behind Lando, which means he would need to win and Lando finish

no higher than six. If they collided and both retired basically landed,

so basically Oscar just has to finish second on the road.

Yes, if they both retire, which is unlikely, right? That's quite a large collision that must

happen to take both drivers out of the race. If you think collisions can just be a front

wing change. A bit like Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri at the first corner of last year's

Grand Prix. Just throwing that one into the mix. Yes, indeed. I hear

your point. I don't think Oscar Piastri is also thinking that Max,

should Oscar be ahead of Max Verstappen? Max Verstappen is treating Oscar Piastri just like

he would Lando Norris and he is dive bombing the life out of him no matter what. So I don't

think it changes much. Unless it's Lando Max Oscar on the grid, that's the top three,

then yes, you can expect some Max Shenanigans 100%. So yeah, of course Oscar's biggest hope

is something happening between his two title rivals for sure. And finally on Oscar Piastri,

percentage of how likely he is to win the title. So it will add up to 100% across the three drivers.

I am locking in for Oscar Piastri a 10% chance of winning the World Championship. It is a massive

outside shot and it's going to have to require something crazy as we've mentioned.

So 10%. I will go for 4%. Oh, God, so why couldn't you just make it easy? Why couldn't you've done it

in like five divisions of 5% because you're going to then come to the end and it will come to 121%.

Hey, I got a C at GCSE, right? Yeah, I'll go 5% then. 5%. Okay, all right.

Sebastian Vettel has won from further back, so we shall see.

True. Thank you, everyone, for listening to this episode. Join us for part two,

where we'll be talking about the man who might be about to pull off

the most unbelievable comeback in the history of Formula One.

Dun, dun, dun. See you tomorrow.

Zinn is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zinn offers a robust rewards program.

There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction,

but there's only one Zinn. Check out zinn.com slash find to find Zinn at a store near you.

Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

About this episode

Matt and Tommy dive deep into Oscar Piastri's 2024 Formula One season, highlighting his impressive early victories and podium streak that positioned him as a strong title contender. They discuss his unexpected struggles in the latter part of the season, including key mistakes and crashes, particularly in Baku and Austin, which severely impacted his championship chances. The hosts analyze pivotal moments like the controversial Monza race and speculate on scenarios that could still allow Piastri to clinch the title, despite being behind Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. The episode blends detailed race analysis with championship dynamics and driver psychology.

Dodge Challenger Dodge Charger

Original notes

Join us for the first of three special podcast episodes looking at each of the drivers who will fight for the Championship in Abu Dhabi this weekend!

First up is the man who led the Championship for so much of the season, but a dip in form has now left him hoping for a miracle. It's Oscar Piastri - but what was his best moment of the season? What moment might be the pivotal one that cost him everything? Let's get into it!

Please vote for us in the Autosport Awards 2026! https://www.autosport.com/awards-voting/

You can listen to an extended version of every Race Review episode over on our Patreon! You'll also access to every P1 episode ad-free, early access to tickets & merch, and access to our Discord server where you can chat with us and other F1 fans! Click here to sign up now: http://patreon.com/mattp1tommy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

P1 with Matt and Tommy

Stak

View classic page →

0:00

19:39