Piastri led the F1 title race by 34 points, but ended up third. One moment in his slide will hurt more than most

We will never know whether correlation leads to causation. But after Monza, Piastri suffered his worst weekend of the year in Baku, failing to score a single podium over the next five rounds as Norris ascended, the Briton taking the lead with five laps to go in the Mexican Grand Prix.

After showing unusual pace and unwavering composure for a driver in just his third F1 season, Piastri’s late-season wobbles, Norris’ recovery from engine failure at the Dutch Grand Prix and Max Verstappen’s overturning of a 104-point championship deficit to turn Abu Dhabi into a three-way title fight for the first time in 15 years simultaneously showed just how far Piastri had come, but how much further he still had to go.

Piastri, who qualified third behind Verstappen and Norris in Abu Dhabi, knew what was required. “From where I am, I need some things to happen in the race to win the championship,” he said after qualifying on Saturday. But with Abu Dhabi’s soporific track layout rarely leading to danger – Verstappen’s win on Sunday was the 11th consecutive race at Yas Marina where the pole-sitter has triumphed; It was a high-speed standstill situation that made the ceremonial Monaco Grand Prix interesting – Piastri could do little.

His teammate’s powerful first-lap pass from the outside of turn nine – a place where overtaking is rare, especially in the opening stages of a race when the cars are weighted down with 58 laps of fuel and not the most agile – was clinical, but proved to be Piastri’s high point.

Starting on hard compound tyres, with Verstappen and Norris using the preferred mid-size Pirellis, Piastri’s plan was to run the first part of the race longer than his championship rivals, gain track position when they pitted and hope for the aforementioned “things” to happen and put him in line for the title.

Piastri was 17 laps ahead when Verstappen pitted on lap 24 and retained second place after pitting at the end of lap 40, but as Verstappen was well ahead and Norris was not under any threat from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and ran comfortably in third place, which was enough to secure the championship, the final race of the fascinating season slowly came to an end.

“We tried a bit of a gamble on strategy, we tried absolutely everything to win the race and give ourselves the best chance to win the championship, but ultimately we just didn’t have enough pace today,” Piastri said.

“It was a fun battle,” he added, referring to his season-long battle with Norris, which began in March with his McLaren teammates locking up the front row of the grid in Melbourne and running four seconds ahead of his team-mate after the final round of the year to the checkered flag in Piastri, Abu Dhabi.

“It’s probably been an enjoyable season for both of us… and I say that as a non-champion. I’ve learned a lot along the way.”

“When things went well this year, I felt unstoppable at some points. Just getting to this point is a pretty good feeling.”

“There have been many times when that hasn’t been the case, and I think I’ve learned a lot of lessons about how to deal with difficult moments, challenges from different directions.”

Piastri’s 13-point lead to the championship is the closest any Australian has come to emulating Jones’ Williams title in 1980 since Mark Webber, now Piastri’s manager, fell 14 points behind Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel in Abu Dhabi in 2010.

No Australian has won more races in a single season than Piastri’s seven this year; This is equal to Norris and Verstappen, who completed his unsuccessful quest to become the first driver since Michael Schumacher (2000-04) to win five consecutive championships with three victories.

In just three seasons and 70 races, Piastri has won as many grand prixes (nine) as Webber in his 215-race career and two more races than McLaren predecessor Daniel Ricciardo did in his 13-year F1 career.

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Given McLaren’s dominance of the season – Verstappen’s brilliance was the only thing that made the British team sweat – there is plenty of optimism for the 2026 calendar, which kicks off in Melbourne next March, even as a significant regulation change between seasons in F1 could shake up next season’s standings.

But for now, Piastri will reflect on 2025, wondering whether he could have handled the tough times better and expressing doubts that McLaren’s policy of letting its drivers fight continues fairly as one of them has the world champion’s No.1 in the nose cone of his car next year.

Piastri smiled with some regret: “I’ve been involved in championship fights in the junior categories before, but there’s a little more in F1.”

“I learned a lot about that this year and I think it will only help me move forward.”

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