Too early to “bank points” in 2025 F1 title battle with Norris

Despite noticing a perceptible change in his approach while competing for a Formula 1 title, Oscar Piastri says it is far too early in the season to consider minimising risk and settling for positions in races.

In an exclusive interview with Autosport, Piastri was asked about the challenges involved in fighting for a title against his team-mate Lando Norris, and if there was any intentional adaptations in his driving to account for the need to be consistent.

Piastri has scored points in every race so far this season. With just nine points in hand over Norris, he is not in a position where he can afford to let results slip – lest he lose any ground in the championship versus the Briton.

McLaren has allowed both drivers to fight on track via its “papaya rules” tenet, which Piastri says consists of one rule: not to hit your team-mate. He says that the overall approach in locking down the constructors’ championship first remains unchanged, but that the effective removal of any team orders calls does delineate between previous years and 2025’s racing approach.

“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.”

Asked if he preferred to compartmentalise each weekend over taking a bigger-picture view of the championship, Piastri said that the cliche of drivers opting for a ‘race by race’ mantra was very much true.

He elaborated on his opinion on the temptation to bank points – he stated that settling for second rather than pursuing a clear opportunity to win races was not his preference and “not a great way of going racing”.

“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.

“So as cliched as it is, it is genuinely about focusing on the race you’re in, trying to score the most amount of points.

“You could say I need 18 points every weekend for the rest of the year, which is finishing second, but if you’ve got a clear opportunity to win the race and you don’t take it, that’s not a great way of going racing in my opinion.

“So that’s how I always try and look at it. And that’s what I based my whole career off basically, leaving each weekend knowing that I’ve done the absolute maximum I can.

“Whether that looks like finishing fifth, whether it’s finishing second, whether it’s winning the race, ultimately trying to be happy with the performance I’ve put in, that’s all you can ask for.”