By Ben Langley
This year’s title battle is a close one, with Oscar Piastri leading at the halfway stage, but only eight points clear of McLaren teammate Lando Norris after the Brit’s back-to-back victories in Spielberg and Silverstone. Max Verstappen sits in third but an enormous 69 points adrift of Piastri. With Red Bull’s performance seemingly on a downslope, it would take a miracle for Verstappen to challenge for a fifth successive title. Therefore, it is set for a straight shootout between the two McLarens.
There have been many key moments that we may look back on after this year’s champion is crowned. The first major turning point came in the opening round in Melbourne. As the rain came down in Albert Park, the leading McLarens both skidded off the track. Norris kept it together, but Piastri was sent into a spin. He ultimately finished 9th due to the unfortunate error to give Norris an early comfortable lead over his teammate.
Piastri responded by winning three of the next four races, as he clawed back the deficit to take the championship lead after his third win in Saudi Arabia. Norris’ main struggles throughout the season have come in qualifying. His starts further down the grid allowed Piastri to control numerous races in a car that is comfortably quicker than the rest.
Norris bagged his first win in seven races in Monaco after a farcical two-stop race as Piastri finished third. However, Piastri bounced back in dominant fashion with his fifth victory of the season in Spain. Then in Canada, the championship tussle took a dramatic turn. Another poor qualifying showing put Norris on the back foot. His race pace was strong and towards the final few laps he was on the back of Piastri. However, as Piastri defended the inside line, Norris went for a gap that wasn’t there and collided with his teammate to end his race. Piastri was fortunate to escape without a puncture, as Norris lost more ground in a mistake all of his own making.
Piastri took a 22-point lead into Austria, with all the pressure on his teammate. The two shared a thrilling early race battle for the lead. Norris survived a few early scares as he controlled the race from there. Piastri pitted later in a bid to have a tyre advantage towards the end, but he never caught back up to Norris as the championship lead was cut to 15.
Norris looked to continue his momentum into his home race at Silverstone. Piastri held the edge in qualifying and controlled the race after taking the lead over Verstappen. However, his mid-race penalty showing a rare kink in the armour of the Aussie as Norris took full advantage to take his second victory in a row. Tensions seem to be growing as Piastri had suggested to his team that Norris gave the lead back after seeing the penalty as unjust. The scathing post-race interview from Piastri saying that the only course for celebration should be Hulkenberg’s podium may be the spark that turns this championship battle into a fierce one.
Piastri still remains the slight favourite, but we look set for a battle that will go down to the wire. The second half of the season should be thrilling with the exciting dynamic of both drivers chasing their first championship. It could go either way.
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