Piastri’s overtake highlight reel squashed as teammate shines
As his teammate Lando Norris takes home another piece of silverware for the trophy cabinet, Oscar Piastri can only look on in horror as he falls further behind.
McLaren now has a glaring deficit between their two drivers, as Norris charged back through the field to claim victory at the Dutch Grand Prix, Piastri’s overtaking masterclass could only salvage a sixth place finish.
Oscar Piastri finished sixth, as his teammate charges further ahead. Peter Fox
Coupled with a DNF before the summer break when Norris stood on the top step in Hungary, Piastri’s frustrations were laid bare after the race.
“The first lap was good, well, after the red flag [following Verstappen’s crash] was good, and then the first stint felt OK, and then after that I just had nothing,” Piastri said bluntly after the race.
“I don’t know why, but plenty to look into.”
Piastri did not mince his words on what he is missing currently, his overtake in the opening moments after the red flag restart moved him up into third, but it didn’t mean much as he eventually came home in sixth place.
“Pace,” the Aussie said further when asked what he needed from the car.
“I don’t really have any more answers than that.”
Norris gave McLaren a third successive Dutch Grand Prix victory in an intense race of shifting fortunes that had to be restarted after home hero Max Verstappen crashed on the opening lap.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli finished second to increase his championship lead, with teammate George Russell obeying orders to let the Italian – on fresher tyres – through late in the race.
Russell then held off Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton for third.
The back to back victory for reigning world champion Norris now elevates him to fourth overall in the standings, 83 points adrift of Antonelli.
Piastri currently sits in seventh on 104 points, 55 behind his teammate.
Max Verstappen wrecked his car on the first lap. Fox Sports
McLaren is still trailing Mercedes at this stage of the championship – a fact not lost on team principal Andrea Stella, who had some pointed words for the papaya team in the post-race.
“Lando did a better job than anyone else [with the tyres] and deserved the victory,” Stella said.
“We have to have so many good weekends [to catch Mercedes] and I would rather focus on executing good weekends and bringing more upgrades to the car.
“After some of them, if we are able to, we will look at where we are in the championship but Antonelli and Mercedes are deservedly leading the championships.
“We have to do a bit more.”
That gap has not stopped McLaren from retaining a thin thread of hope for a late-season title charge.
Norris is closer to leader Antonelli than Verstappen was to Piastri at this stage in the 2025 season.
The Red Bull driver closed the deficit to finish just two points behind ultimate victor Norris.
In the Mercedes garage, Russell defended Mercedes for imposing team orders in favour of his F1 championship-leading teammate.
The British driver was in second place late in the race with Antonelli closing in fast on fresher soft tyres and with two Ferraris behind.
Piastri waits during a pit stop. Getty Images
Mercedes gave the instruction over the radio to “invert” the cars, meaning swap positions rather than fight for position, with Russell doing so after initially questioning why it was necessary.
After Antonelli finished second to McLaren’s Norris and Russell held on to third place for a double Mercedes podium, the two teammates exchanged friendly gestures and put the matter to rest.
“I mean, Kimi was ahead of me anyway, so he deserved to finish ahead,” said Russell.
The next race is a home one for Ferrari on September 6, at Italy’s Monza circuit outside Milan.
