Helmut Marko doesn’t toss bouquets at rival drivers for fun. So when Red Bull’s powerbroker calls Oscar Piastri “a truly great driver” in the making, it lands with weight.
Marko’s read is that McLaren’s title fight is being shaped more by Piastri’s poise than Norris’ peaks. The 24-year-old heads the standings by nine points after 14 rounds, with six wins to Lando Norris’ five — Norris taking three of the last four as McLaren’s intra-team tug-of-war tightens. But Marko sees the difference in the margins.
“Piastri has the nerve, is more consistent, and always gets the best out of himself. I’ve never seen him so emotionally charged,” he told F1-Insider. “Norris may be faster per lap, but overall I see Piastri ahead.”
That tracks with the Australian’s calling card since he arrived at McLaren in 2023: build into a weekend, bank laps, and never look flustered when the pressure rises. The method has yield. He’s riding a points streak that stretches back to the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix — 40 races and counting — and in 2024 he was the only driver to complete every racing lap. If last year’s weakness was the occasional blip in qualifying, 2025 has flipped that narrative; more often than not he’s had the sharper edge on Saturdays, and the starts to match.
It’s the polished version of the same driver who charged through the junior ranks — titles in Formula Regional, Formula 3 and Formula 2 in successive seasons — now doing it against the best. Marko’s caveat, naturally, is the Verstappen benchmark.
“Piastri has had an incredible career and is improving year after year,” he said. “He had some major fluctuations last year, depending on the track. That’s no longer the case. But Verstappen is Verstappen. He still has a long way to go. The potential to become a truly great driver is there, though.”
Piastri, predictably, isn’t dressing the championship picture in drama. His lead ebbed after Hungary, where Norris beat him to the flag, but the Australian isn’t counting pennies.
“The biggest lead of the year has been 23, and it’s not moved within 10 points for the last ten races almost,” he said after Budapest. “I’m not really that fussed with that… I think the pace for the first half of the year has been very, very strong… I feel like I’ve driven a lot of strong races, and it’s been very tightly fought. So, I expect more of the same after the break.”
F1 returns at Zandvoort on August 29-31. If the first half taught us anything, it’s that McLaren’s title bid may hinge less on outright speed and more on who blinks first. Right now, Marko’s betting it won’t be Piastri.
