Grand Prix

Brundle: Calm head will pay dividends for Piastri in championship battle

Nelson Espinal|
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] April 13, 2025; Sakhir, BAHRAIN; Oscar Piastri during the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Rula Rouhana/Reuters via Imagn Images
[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] April 13, 2025; Sakhir, BAHRAIN; Oscar Piastri during the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Rula Rouhana/Reuters via Imagn Images | Rula Rouhana/Reuters via Imagn Images

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri captured the race win in Saudi Arabia and took the lead of the Drivers' Championship.

Piastri exhibited a true champion's drive on Sunday in Jeddah, showcasing incredible pace while conserving some speed in his tires just in case it was needed.

The Australian is now 10 points ahead of his teammate Lando Norris and is looking in a good position early in the season.

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After the race, Sky Sport's Martin Brundle lauded Piastri's calm demeanor, never getting too low on himself or too high, rather keeping an overall even keel.

"It's ominous, it's very good for him and he's still a young man," Brundle said.

"He's 82 races behind Lando Norris in terms of experience. That calm head of his will pay dividends."

"You can imagine, if we get a big, old championship showdown how useful his horizontal sort of nature will be."

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Even though Verstappen started in pole position, Piastri did not need to overtake the Red Bull driver on track, as Max received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Entering turn 1, Piastri and Verstappen jostled for position, with Oscar slightly ahead at the apex, granting him the right of way. Verstappen had to leave the track, unwilling to relinquish his position or lead, prompting the FIA to investigate the incident.

Eventually, he received a five-second time penalty, which allowed Piastri to overtake Verstappen during the sequence of pit stops.

Verstappen had the pace to challenge for the win, and he could have potentially done so if he had conceded the position and saved the five seconds.

Instead, Piastri has now become the leader in the title fight, a surprising development given that the pre-season expectations were that Norris would be the favorite to win the title.

Brundle's point about Oscar's demeanor may be making all the difference, as Lando Norris has been feeling down on himself over the last couple of races due to his struggle to perform consistently well.

Piastri has maintained his focus during race weekends and has not dwelled too much on expectations. Additionally, he has adapted well to the challenges posed by the MCL39.

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For more F1 news, head over to F1 on SI.

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Nelson Espinal
NELSON ESPINAL

Nelson Espinal lives and breathes sports. Avidly following of everything ranging from motorsports to Mixed Martial Arts to tennis, he is connected with most of the sports world at all times. His dream of writing about sports started at 16 years of age, writing for a Lakers fans blog, and his passions for sports writing has grown since. He has his Bachelor's degree in Political Science, and a minor in writing literature from the University of California, San Diego.

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