Piastri: Improving qualifying form for F1 2025 is my big focus

oscar piastri has revealed after unfavorable comparisons that improving qualifying for the 2025 Formula 1 season is their main focus. mclaren teammates lando norris,

In 2024 Piastri was edged out 21–3 by Norris, although often by small margins, with Norris also getting the better of the Australian in sprint qualifying this year. That means Piastri has regressed compared to his rookie 2023 season, when he got the better of Norris on seven Saturdays despite being less experienced than he is now at that level.

Some of this is explained by Norris making a number of decisive mistakes in 2023, which put him back on the starting grid, an area the 2024 championship runner-up worked on with the team last off-season.

It now looks like Piastri will follow a similar process of soul searching this winter to overcome his own qualifying weaknesses, which plagued his driving during the last campaign.

“This season I feel like I’ve taken good steps forward, there’s still room to grow,” said Piastri, who finished fourth in the 2024 standings.

“The biggest thing is to leave a few too many places in the standings in qualifying. I don’t think I’ve ever made life easy for myself in a race in that aspect. So that’s the big focus of the off-season, those last hundredths, those last tenths. Trying to get the part.

“I think in all the other areas, I’ve been able to show what I’m capable of and also show that I’ve improved. So again, now it’s like putting everything together because now the gaps are very tight.” Small, or not-exist, so if I could get it all together, I’d be on my way.”

According to the 23-year-old, one good thing is that he has a better understanding of how he can improve his performance in qualifying rather than trying to figure out where the lap times will come from.

When asked by Motorsport.com if he believed he could take the next step, Piastri said: “I think so, the big thing for me is that there haven’t been too many occasions where it’s been difficult for me to understand Where has the time gone?

“After qualifying (in Abu Dhabi, where he was two tenths behind polesitter Norris), I immediately knew where I had gone wrong. It’s not really a case of needing to find that extra step, It’s about being able to stay on top of my game every time.

“I feel like when I was on it, I was pretty good. That doesn’t mean there isn’t still room to move forward on that, but the encouraging thing is that the potential is there. So, realizing the next step If I can do that, we’ll be in for a fun season.”