Oscar Piastri given ‘dynamics can change’ boost ahead of final triple-header

Although Lando Norris has overtaken Oscar Piastri in the title race, Ralf Schumacher says there could be another twist in the tale for the McLaren teammates.

Three grand prix weekends remain on the F1 2025 calendar, with Las Vegas the first in a triple-header that concludes with the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

Oscar Piastri boosted with ‘dynamics can change again’ verdict

⦁ Schumacher outlines two changes that could shift momentum back to Piastri
⦁ McLaren driver’s ‘resilience’ applauded
⦁ All is not lost for Oscar Piastri

Norris and Piastri are locked in an intra-team battle to dethrone Max Verstappen, who, although mathematically is in the race, trails Norris by 49 points with 83 still in play.

It’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top.

While Norris led the early rounds having gained a march on Piastri at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix where he clinched the win while a costly off dropped Piastri to ninth, Piastri took control with his third win of the season in Saudi Arabia.

He marched out to a 34-point lead when he won the Dutch Grand Prix while Norris retired. That, though, remains Piastri’s most recent victory.

A difficult period for the 24-year-old in which he had to change his driving style while also dealing with “other factors” saw him lose the lead in the standings to Norris in Mexico, before the Briton pulled 24 points clear.

Schumacher, though, doesn’t believe that’s the last momentum shift in the championship.

“The dynamics can change again,” the six-time grand prix winner told Sky Deutschland’s Boxengasse podcast.

“If he feels super comfortable again and exploits his potential, he can certainly finish ahead of his teammate.”

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And if he’s ahead of Norris on the track, he could also receive a helping hand from rivals getting between himself and Norris, after all, “McLaren’s dominance is not absolute at the moment.”

McLaren last recorded a 1-2 finish back in August’s Hungarian Grand Prix with Red Bull and Mercedes both claiming wins in the races since.

Piastri’s fortunes may have already begun to change at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Although he was outscored by 33 points to 10 by Norris, he showed good pace in the Sprint weekend’s only practice session and also in the grand prix.

Alas, his weekend was undone by a crash in the Sprint before a 10-second penalty in the grand prix cost positions on the track. Despite that, he was only 15s down on Norris at the line.

“He wasn’t that much slower than Norris and started the weekend well,” Schumacher stated.

“Of course, the ten-second penalty he incurred due to the incident at the restart didn’t help. If he had started a little further forward, the drama would have been a lot less.”

The German added that he’s been impressed by Piastri’s resilience during this difficult period.

“What Piastri is showing now is excellent. It shows that he continues to grow as a driver, even when conditions are challenging,” he said.

“It shows that a good driver is defined not only by talent, but also by experience and resilience.”

All is not lost for Oscar Piastri

Although Piastri trails Norris by 24 points, meaning all the Briton needs is to finish runner-up in the remaining three grands prix and he’ll win the title no matter what the Australian does, all is not lost.

One DNF for Norris, coupled with a win for Piastri, will turn the table on its head again with the Australian racer moving a point ahead.

If he can mimic Norris’ recovery after his wretched Canadian Grand Prix weekend in Las Vegas and Qatar, there’d be 10 points in it heading into the season finale. A win in the Sprint reduces that to nine.

It would be all to play for in Abu Dhabi.

Momentum this season began with Norris, switched to Piastri, and has since returned to Norris. There’s nothing to say there won’t be another swing in the final three race weekends.

Although Piastri has had his troubles in recent weeks with certain tracks, his team principal Andrea Stella says, “there’s no problem in terms of track layout coming in the next races”.

It’s not inconceivable that Piastri could yet pull off the championship win.

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