Oscar Piastri has made it clear that he is not ready to play safe in the 2025 Formula 1 title fight. Despite noticing some changes in his approach while competing for the championship, the McLaren driver insists it is far too early in the season to focus on risk-free racing.
Piastri has scored points in every race so far and holds a nine-point lead over team-mate Lando Norris. With such a narrow gap, he says there is no room to let results slip in the fight for the F1 drivers’ championship.
McLaren has maintained its “papaya rules” policy, which, according to Piastri, has just one rule – not to hit your team-mate. This approach, he says, continues to prioritise securing the constructors’ championship but without restricting on-track battles between him and Norris.
Too Early to Bank Points in Title Race
“I think there’s definitely been some changes. Even still now it’s too early to kind of just bank points and finish races for the sake of finishing races,” Piastri said of his own approach.
“You still need to try and put your best foot forward and score points. Obviously now in the driver’s championship it’s very much a two-horse race, so there is kind of some one-on-one racing in some ways, which is probably a little bit of a change from what we’ve done previously.
“But a lot of what we’ve done previously has been to try and win constructors’ championships, and get the team the most points. When you’re fighting for first and second, you’re still getting the same amount of points.
“So there’s probably a few changes with that, but a lot of the rules of engagement and the general philosophy of how we go racing is still very much the same.”
Race-by-Race Mindset Over Big Picture
When asked if he preferred to take a weekend-by-weekend approach or keep the bigger picture in mind, Piastri reaffirmed that the race-by-race mindset works best. “I think the saying of ‘taking it race by race’, it sounds boring and kind of is boring in some ways, but it is very true,” the Australian explained.
“You can’t worry about what’s going to happen in Abu Dhabi and take your focus off what you’re doing in the weekend, especially at the top of Formula 1. You’ve got to be on top of your game every single time and any focus you take away from that, it means you’re not at the top of your game.”
Piastri also dismissed the idea of settling for second place when a chance to win presents itself, describing it as “not a great way of going racing.” With the 2025 F1 world championship still wide open, he plans to attack every race weekend with maximum intent.
Stay tuned for all the latest Sports News, follow SportsNewsTime on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram