Oscar Piastri in Barcelona
Piastri urges F1 grid to remember one key thing when racing wheel-to-wheel
21:15, 26 Jun
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Oscar Piastri has performed admirably so far this season and leads the world championship by 22 points over Lando Norris.
The McLaren driver has stepped up this year and not backed down when in a duel with reigning champion Max Verstappen.
Piastri took control on the opening lap in Saudi Arabia when Verstappen tried to go around the outside at Turn 1.
The guidelines around wheel-to-wheel combat have been under fire a lot recently as they remain somewhat unclear.
Oscar Piastri has won five races in 2025
Piastri feels that every battle is unique but the guidelines are not rules that are set in stone. He said in the press conference ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix: "I think the first important thing to point out is that they are guidelines.
"They’re not set-in-stone rules. Trying to put in words every single racing scenario is impossible. So, it's a very difficult job. I think these guidelines provide the Stewards with some guidelines on what should be acceptable and what’s not. Obviously, there are still degrees of factors that can’t really be written down.
"Every situation is different, but I think it at least gives us as drivers some clarity on what is and isn’t allowed. There have probably been some tweaks since they came out—I can’t remember when they came out exactly, but maybe in the last 18 months or so. It’s just important that people don’t treat them as black and white—this is what needs to happen, this is what isn’t going to happen—because even if you wrote 10 pages of lines and a driver’s going to find a grey area just from the situation you end up in."
The McLaren's crashed last time out in Canada but Piastri is adamant McLaren won't change their Papaya rules.
Oscar Piastri has improved race pace and one lap pace
Piastri went missing at times last year, but has taken a significant step forward on Sunday afternoons.
His superb weekend in Spain was critical after Norris won at Monaco and the Australian now leads the championship by 22 points.
Qualifying has also taken a step forward with four pole positions so far. This is vitally important with overtaking being so difficult in F1.
Piastri has all the hallmarks of a world champion, while Norris continues to flounder and make errors.
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