Over the first 10 rounds of 2025 Oscar Piastri has established himself as the driver to beat within McLaren and must be considered the favourite to win the championship.
But why, after two years of trailing his team mate Lando Norris, has Piastri now pulled ahead? There are two competing explanations.One is, rather obviously, the fact that Piastri only made his Formula 1 debut two years ago and the experience he had accumulated during that time has paid off. There is clearly an element of that at work.
For example, the gap between Piastri and Norris in qualifying at some tracks has gradually swung in his favour from year to year. He was four tenths of a second slower than Norris in qualifying on his grand prix debut in Bahrain, almost matched him at the same circuit a year later, and was four tenths of a second faster the year after that.
Left: Piastri ahead; right: Norris ahead. Unrepresentative comparisons omitted
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Of course the changes in lap time are not as smooth and obvious as this at every circuit. If so, Piastri’s overall qualifying performance would have been better in 2024 than 2023, which wasn’t the case: He lost 15-7 to Norris in his debut season and that gap widened to 20-4 last year.
The pendulum has clearly swung. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believes the main reason for this is the progress made by Piastri and his side of the garage since last year.
“I think the most important improvement, if anything, is that Oscar has become a faster driver,” he explained. “I think when you are a faster driver then you have more opportunity, more time to process, more bandwidth to process things.
“This is true when you are in the car and this is also true when you are outside the car. Because the speed is there [it] lets [you] process all the other marginal gains that will then, at the end of the weekend, constitute the performance that you need to have the kind of results that he’s having at the moment.
“In addition to that, over the winter, there’s been a very specific amount of work that has paid attention to different areas. It’s been quite holistic.
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Positive: Norris ahead; negative: Piastri ahead. Unrepresentative comparisons omitted
“While Oscar is definitely the main one to praise for these developments, I would like to mention the team around Oscar – his engineers and all the support from the factory with all the analysis. And even the team, Mark Webber, who works with Oscar, he’s definitely a great source of thoughts, insight and identification of opportunities.
“So, there’s quite a lot of work behind this progress. But ultimately, hats off to Oscar who has been able to capitalise.”
But while one McLaren driver has clearly found gains during the off-season, the other has been markedly less confident. Since the season began Norris has complained about feeling less confident in McLaren’s latest car than he has in previous seasons.
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He has made noticeably more errors in qualifying, particularly in the decisive Q3 session, which has often left him at a disadvantage on race day. Attempts to address this in Canada did not appear to pay off.
“I’ve been happy with how the car’s been so far this year and, again, just wanted to keep consistency.” Norris has clearly not been as happy with his feel from the car, but switching to the new suspension did not seem to help matters.
The weekend followed a depressingly familiar pattern for Norris. He was quickest in final practice, led Q1 and was just two hundredths of a second off the pace in Q2. But come Q3 he made a pair of mistakes and slumped to seventh on the grid.
As Norris set his best time on a set of tyres which had already done a lap, Piastri out-qualified him by over half a second. Piastri has only come out ahead by more than that twice: In Azerbaijan last year, when his team mate caught a yellow flag with unfortunate timing, and at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, when Norris damaged his car.
Norris’s qualifying disappointment last weekend proved the starting point for a new low in his 2025 season. He chased Piastri hard during the race but took himself out by running into the back of the other McLaren in a badly misjudged move which had no chance of success.
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Rebounding from that will undoubtedly be difficult for Norris. He is far from out of it yet: he is only 22 points behind his team mate and his race pace has consistently been a match for Piastri’s.
But if Piastri maintains his recent superiority in qualifying, Norris’s championship hopes look set to gradually fade over the summer months.
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2025 Canadian Grand Prix
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- Verstappen refuses to say whether he supported Red Bull’s latest Russell protests
- No change to McLaren’s ‘papaya rules’ after Canadian GP collision – Piastri
- The driver and car explanations for how Piastri turned the tables on Norris
Cranberry
23rd June 2025, 12:59
Piastri is without a doubt getting the upper hand at McLaren, and as a Norris fan, it breaks my heart.
I truly wish Norris was able to take the crown given he finally has the car to do so, but it seems his team mate disagrees.
No matter what happens, I hope boardroom politics stay out of it and the better racer wins.
Jonathan Parkin
23rd June 2025, 18:54
I don’t think you need to wave the white flag just yet.
While it is true Oscar has more wins, Lando has more second places. Oscar in fact hasn’t got any yet, when he isn’t winning he is scoring thirds when he gets on the podium
I’m talking about the races here not the sprint sessions
Dex
24th June 2025, 7:01
He doesn’t score second places mostly because he’s winning almost every race. He doesn’t need second places at all. Point difference between second and third is so small anyway.
This way tou make it sound like Lando is a more consistent driver this year, but he isn’t at all. I think the most probable outcome is that the difference will grow, and that at some point Lando will just let go of the fight (that already happened last year against Verstappen). The second most likely scenario would be a closer fight, and Norris winning this would be the fourth in my opinion (with Max winning the championship being more likely to happen, in third place).
But who knows… We’ll see. I don’t see it as a particularly interesting fight either way.
Piastri is such a plain, robotic character, while Lando is still afraid of his own shadow somehow, for reasons unknown. They are such a boring mix at the moment, even compared to Max vs Lewis, or Lewis vs Nico etc.
Mooa42
25th June 2025, 0:45
Also worth considering that after round 1 in Australia, Oscar was 23 points behind Lando. I think even a Lando fan would admit that Oscar in the dirty air behind Lando in Australia had something to do with why Oscar ended up getting beached when Lando didn’t. That’s a 45 point turn around for Oscar in 9 races. Except for the incident, McLaren should have been a 1, 2 in Australia which would put Oscar 38 points in front now. All ifs, buts and maybes but 45 point turn around in 9 races is impressive.
Applebook
25th June 2025, 4:37
It’s remarkable that Oscar somehow has the aura of demolishing Lando even though the qualifying battle is only 6-4, with Norris being legitimately quicker at a few of those losing qualifying sessions too like Canada (had he not made glaring mistakes). I don’t think that Lando has gotten slower. It’s just that Oscar is simply more consistent, makes fewer mistakes this year, and has finally come of age, while Lando is making more mistakes than ever. When both guys get clean laps, the gap is generally barely a tenth on most tracks. Unfortunately for Lando, he doesn’t get that many clean laps together anymore, and his deficit to Oscar is more obvious outside of street tracks, where he still has the clear speed advantage.
PeteB (@peteb)
23rd June 2025, 13:14
I’d say there are 2 reasons. One is obviously Piastri improving but the the other is that because Piastri is improving and McLaren have a car that should win a Championship this year, there’s a lot of pressure on Norris – something he doesn’t seem to react well to.
If McLaren were a bit slower and weren’t in the title fight, I’d back Norris to win the team battle but as they’re at the front and there are huge amounts of pressure, my money is on Piastri.
Applebook
25th June 2025, 4:38
We should never underestimate the head battle. Oscar is very clearly the mentally stronger driver.
Mathias
23rd June 2025, 13:23
Piastri will win a championship before Norris, just like Ricciardo won a race before Norris, except this time Norris won’t recover.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
23rd June 2025, 14:51
SO sure. So make sure yourself some money
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd June 2025, 13:26
There’s also a car issue, which Piastri’s been fighting against too, and partly explains the deficits they had against Max particularly in the early part of the season: both drivers complain of a certain numbness from the front end in qualy.
Bashing Norris is the thing to do currently, and he’s not helping the matter himself, but there’s something about that car that prevents the team from nailing every single qualifying.
BLS (@brightlampshade)
23rd June 2025, 14:19
I get the feeling that Norris is the faster driver, but Piastri is a lot more consistent.
Piastri seems to be able to run his own race a lot of the time as well whilst Norris is busy battling Max and Russel.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
23rd June 2025, 16:53
Yeah, I feel like this also. Norris’ confidence has definitely taken a hit. But I feel like Oscar doesn’t get into fights he doesn’t need to, he takes the 3rd before the ‘latest on the brakes’ approach. He just picks up points. He’s 43 points ahead of Max without a single ‘Hail Mary’.
If Oscar wins this WDC, so far he would have done it without a ‘muti-21’, ‘Jerez 97”, Whatever we’re calling Nico and Lewis in Barcelona.
Oscar vs Max is a great dynamic and a great story. Especially with Max seemingly fighting with an inferior car.
MacLeod (@macleod)
24th June 2025, 6:35
Which will means Oscar has the greatest chance to become WDC.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th June 2025, 11:44
if you were paying attention to Zack last year, you could literally see how much more he favored Oscar over Lando. Whether or not that is what the board wants, or if Lando is too nice who knows.
What is evident is Piastri literally hates Lando, you can see it in his eyes from time to time, and to be honest its quite disgusting to see that kind of hatred hiding in plane sight, If I were coaching Lando I would tell him to hate Oscar even more, and to destroy / outcompete him in everything moving forward. The last thing Lando needs to do is listen to any of the pundits, take what hes telling himself in front of the cameras more seriously, because if he doesn’t he will have ultimately failed himself. Because thats what hes really doing when he knocks himself, hes trying to drill through that thick skull of his, because hes not taking it seriously enough. And if he has no stomach for what F1 is turning in to, just retire, but don’t be afraid to return the hate and destroy Oscar completely in every respect, if he wants the championship.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th June 2025, 11:45
*Zak
Applebook
25th June 2025, 4:42
I feel that it might be the opposite. Lando’s race pace is generally fine this season. It’s his ultimate one lap pace where he is so compromised by his frequent mistakes. He believes that he has to be perfect to outqualify Oscar over one lap, whereas in the race, where consistency and tire management are more important, he’s more than up to the task. He was clearly much faster in the last race.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
23rd June 2025, 14:33
I don’t think it is bashing NOR to say he just isn’t a consistent champion driver. I think ANT is and RUS isn’t. PIA is and NOR isn’t. VER and HAM (from a few years ago) are. ALO is. All great drivers out there but only a few have that little bit of extra talent, ability, intuition to be champions, with the right car of course.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
23rd June 2025, 14:52
Ant over Russell for consistency? ! REALLY !!!
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th June 2025, 11:37
some people can’t fathom reason, and only believe the cues which authority use to help and direct the flow of influence / confidence.
He’s saying ANT is, because its obvious Toto is more interested in ANT winning. And by his logic of might makes right , authority rules, he might be right in the long run, but that’s F1 right now, it’s not born of reason, it’s born of pay to play and king makers. Personally I prefer the way it was right before the v6 hybrid era, I don’t care if Vettel was always winning, it was at least real.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th June 2025, 11:38
Before Pirelli and Toto.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd June 2025, 15:14
Russell is more consistent than Antonelli and for now usually faster too. Maybe Antonelli has more potential over future seasons, but that he’ll have to prove.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
23rd June 2025, 15:51
Yes ANT in the future. He and PIA have a calmness about them whereas RUS and NOR do not.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
23rd June 2025, 16:04
I disagree Lewis was not consistent at all – I would even say he was most consistent in his early years.
In Mercedes dominant years he had plenty of off days sometimes even off weekends but in most cases no race ending offs and with fast enough car still got on the podium in most cases.
The tricky part for Norris is that in 2025 things are much closer than in 2014-2020 with result that even such minor off in qualifying or the race most time means he is off the podium despite having the fastest car.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
23rd June 2025, 16:06
So not actually a stats fan then. Lewis was so consistent it was pretty dull even for his fans ( id class myself as one) after a while. Almost as bonkers as classing ANT over Russell. Still, its a comments page so fill your boots
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
23rd June 2025, 19:39
I don’t really think it’s necessary to get personal Tony, Hamilton’s form has been under scrutiny for years. There are a number of fans who hold the opinion that he should have dominated his teammates more effectively than he did. This isn’t to say Lewis isn’t one of the best of all time, of course he is but his teammates won 48 races against him.
His teammates were all competent drivers (3 Champions) but he didn’t ever win more than 5 races on the bounce. Max won 10 in a row, Seb 9, Schumi 7 and Rosberg 7. Given Lewis had a car that won over 100 races over 7 seasons, and that his teammate did it, it’s not outrageous to expect Hamilton to have at least matched that.
Does that make Lewis inconsistent? That’s a matter of perspective, but against some other all time greats, he don’t stack up well for run of 10 races. There’s doubtless caveats like getting COVID on a win run of 5 in 2020 for example. But there’s a gap in his legacy there and history probably won’t look back as favourably on his teammates as they were given at the time.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
23rd June 2025, 20:48
Not personal at all. But yeh you’re right, hes the worst 7 x WDC with 100 + poles theres ever been.
People who pull any elite athletes stats apart are just totally missing the point. The difference between success and failure is all to often a small margin.
Im going to use a famous Federer quote
“In the 1526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. Now, I have a question for you. What percentage of points do you think I won in those matches? Only 54%. In other words, even top-ranked tennis players win barely more than half of the points they play,”
Enjoy the race
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
23rd June 2025, 21:26
I’m not sure I follow this.
You’ve refuted that Hamilton had occasional inconsistent form with a quote about how competitive a sport played as an individual is. I don’t understand the parallel. You’ve told another poster he is “not actually a stats fan” without challenging any of the stats that back up his point.
It goes without saying elite sport is competitive at the top end – but 3 men have won 7 or more races in a row during Lewis’ career, one within the same team. The fact that he hasn’t surely points to inconsistency? What else can it be?
SteveP
23rd June 2025, 22:56
Statistical ‘noise’ ?
A touch of the Alonso ‘luck’ ?
Having a dominant car, but not with a weak teammate ?
All of the above in combinations over time ?
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
24th June 2025, 6:38
I’m not sure what Alonso has to do with it.
I also think the Lewis had strong teammates argument is overblown. What did Rosberg achieve outwith 2016? He was a very good driver but not a great one. Aside from Hamilton, Bottas looked decent against Massa, who had been destroyed by Alonso, and was pretty average for most of his time at Sauber. I don’t see Bottas as being significantly stronger than Webber or Perez over the course of his career. Faster in quali certainly, but shouldn’t have beaten Lewis as often as he did.
To return to Hamilton between late 2015 and early 16 his teammate beat him 7 races in a row (all wins), they crashed in the 8th with Rosberg ahead. I don’t think that’s noise or luck, it’s a period where Lewis’ mind was elsewhere, thinking he could sail to the title. That points to inconsistency to me, 2024 was similar.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
24th June 2025, 7:07
I agree with you, I’d consider hamilton not very consistent, not as much as verstappen or alonso in their best years for example, I think your point about the consecutive races makes that very clear, as well as the huge amount of total wins for his team mates.
People shouldn’t mistake having a great car and doing what is expected by a top driver with being extremely consistent, if they want an example of consistency they should look at what verstappen does with a dominant car (2023) and without (2024).
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
24th June 2025, 7:08
Or even just compare hamilton and verstappen in their 2021 championship battle, people are quick to point at masi, but the reality is, when it comes to things that the drivers could control, verstappen made a lot less mistakes, was more consistent and that decided the championship: if hamilton had been as consistent as verstappen, the slight car advantage and significant luck advantage would’ve won him the title, and viceversa, if verstappen had been less consistent, as much as hamilton, he’d have lost the title for the reasons stated just above.
SteveP
24th June 2025, 20:25
I was referring to the Alonso ‘bad luck’ and hinting that it isn’t just reserved for him.
For whatever reason, LH has tended to be less successful in the first 4-6 races of the season. Lack of focus?
So, yeah.
The crash in the 8th of that sequence: Rosberg got a good start and moved right, herding Hamilton onto the grass. Hamilton was then pretty much a passenger.
They qualified .280 apart, LH found .159 between Q2 and Q3, NR pretty much levelled out on his Q2 –> Q3 so he knew LH had the race pace, and it was a case of get the upper hand in the start or settle for 2nd.
No, Rosberg was not equal to Hamilton.
He got lucky in 2016, but their shared Mercedes years were like the rest of his career, often close to LH but overall, slightly short. A re-run in Malysia, with LH having an engine that survives the race distance would have changed the season.
It is what it is, history.
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
25th June 2025, 6:07
Is inconsistency and lack of focus not 2 sides of the same coin? The argument most commenters are making is that there are periods when Lewis didn’t maximise the result, you seem to suggest that is he can choose when to apply himself. Given it cost him the title in 2016, I’m not sure that’s correct.
In Barcelona 2016, Lewis is at least partially culpable. In the words of Niki Lauda, ” you see the red light flashing showing the guy ahead us losing 160bhp and moving right – why move right? Stay on line and pass him on the outside”. If Lewis had the race pace why make the risky move there?
I’ve never suggested Rosberg and Hamilton are equal. My point is quite the opposite, Lewis should have had way more in hand to beat Rosberg as convincingly as he did in 2014 and 15. Lewis shouldn’t have had to rely on Malaysia, he should have turned up in the first 5 (6) races of the year, being 3rd in the championship 43 points behind his teammate was what cost him.
SteveP
25th June 2025, 7:52
Yes. Generally, LH seems to start his season slower/later than others, rather than a set of up and down throughout.
The other side of the coin is Max, a singular focus on racing, a character trait which I find to be a bit one dimensional.
I think if LH had that “nothing else matters” from day 1 of each season then he’d have truly wiped the floor with all comers, that lack of permanent focus gave others a chance.
Better results in the first 4-5 races would have done the job, but 2016 was fine until the PU blow-up in Malaysia. Just harder work than he normally had, due to NR pulling every MS trick he could recall. All that stuff on the edge between good/bad sportsmanship.
How did we get here? This is a Piastri vs. Norris story.
Mayrton
24th June 2025, 8:42
I agree Lewis was not consistent. It may have seemed Lewis was consistent since the car picked up the pieces on an off day. He also had troubled season starts which saw him getting into the rhythm only after a few races and he was no longer committed when the season was already wrapped up. This is my challenge with some of his fans, mixing skills and material. Let me be clear he is a worthy WDC, but his number of titles do reflect Mercedes dominance rather than him being exceptional or consistent.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
24th June 2025, 12:51
So do all drivers, from Fangio to MS to Lewis to Max. They all had great machinery to take advantage of the skillset they had.
Winning races in a row is one measure, winning WDC’s is another. Im going to go with the latter as more important. If my football team wins 10 in a row but doesnt win the league, its irrelevant.
But tbh Lewis always gets measured in a different way to all other drivers so its nothing new what you say
SteveP
24th June 2025, 20:30
My wife is fond of referencing the character ‘Ali G’ with a misquote.
Mayrton
25th June 2025, 7:31
Sure, the best tend to end up in a good car. But to have a car that can win an entire regulatory period (every single (8!) year of it) is quite exceptional and unparalleled and distorts Lewis vs those others, that is my point. Not to say he isnt a worthy and great champion.
This is precisely due to the fact that his fanbase assigns him a place, not in perspective, that is not based on reality. Then you get backlash on that indeed, seems logical to me.. You should see it as a sign and encouragement to evaluate the situation again.
Applebook
25th June 2025, 4:44
Saying that Antonelli is a “consistent champion driver” right now over Russell makes how much sense? Your contempt for Russell might be clouding your judgment a bit.
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
23rd June 2025, 14:55
I doubt if he 100% knows himself, its probably a minimum of about 5 things but it starts on Saturday and not relaxing with the car. He needs to adapt or he’ll end up another JB, great when its all lined up but a dozen wins is all he’ll end up with. Piastri is unbelievable though, to be almost on him is no disgrace and theres a long way to go yet. Stay in touch till the summer break and form will likely change after
David BR (@david-br)
23rd June 2025, 15:20
Norris is usually faster in practice and up to Q2. His downfall is Q3, race starts and mistakes of varying degrees of magnitude – from starting too far forward in his grid slot to crashing into his team mate at high speed at the end of the face when there was zero space to pass.
Piastri is preternaturally cool, unfazed, deals calmly with anything thrown at him and is decisively aggressive when need be. Norris is probably overthinking everything and seems to lack that self-confidence of many drivers who simply ‘know’ they’re the fastest. He could still win the title this year if he transfers his speed to Q3 and cuts out virtually all the unforced errors. But he also needs to learn to race under pressure at the start and towards the end (he’s fine at planning his passes in advance in the mid-race phase). Can he do that?
Palindnilap (@palindnilap)
23rd June 2025, 17:56
I think that is a very fair assessment. Norris has the speed to turn the tables, but who can say whether he will manage it ?
Mooa42
23rd June 2025, 23:05
I’m not counting Norris out but I expect him to hit his straps if Piastri has a lead of over 40 points. When the pressure is off an he becomes the underdog I expect him to relax and then start dominating.
Piastri/McLaren still seem a bit too relaxed and happy to take 3rd or 4th when it seems with a few more risks they might gain a position. The positive side of that is that they set a plan and execute that plan without getting to flustered during the race.
asz
23rd June 2025, 17:06
Going off at a tangent, but this year’s champion promises to be a bit of a let down.
In all probability, it will be either Piastri or Norris, but in the end, would anyone look back at the season saying how great that driver was in 2025?
Norris with his all too frequent mistakes; Piastri with his unflappability, peppered with some lacklustre though still significantly points-scoring drives… Wow, how scintillating.
We are 10 races in and no season-defining performance from any of them. The overall impression will be more like, ‘yeah, it was the best car that year, so one of their drivers was to win it, anyway’.
I mean, a memorable WDC is an exciting battle between two (or more) drivers at the top of their game, or else an impressive triumph for someone who was truly outstanding throughout. This year it looks like the one of them putting in an altogether more decent effort will inevitably end up being the champion.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd June 2025, 18:54
True but 2021 raised expectations that were never met. Verstappen had 3 walkovers and then a strange non-battle with the Mercedes last year. Pre-2021 we had the non-event of Bottas versus Hamilton, a couple of years of Ferrari promising some contest but fading, then Hamilton versus Rosberg. Really you have to go back to Vettel’s first title (?) for real season-long competition. It’s frustrating because the cars seem close and the field of drivers is excellent. Just shows how difficult it is for all the dynamics to be configured in such a way as to produce a thrilling title battle.
Still, we could see some really good races and even a challenge if, say, Mercedes suddenly come good and McLaren fade. Unlikely but not impossible.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd June 2025, 18:55
* (2 walkovers)
Mooa42
23rd June 2025, 23:18
I feel like it is largely Oscar’s fault, his driving is so robotic that if he leads, you expect him to win, there is no great fear or anticipation that he might make an error, his overtaking seems fuss free and appears to be little chance of an accident.
So it doesn’t appear like it is a battle, it’s just turn up, do my job with the tools I’ve got and then head home.
Still hope he wins the WDC though and I like his dry sense of humour.
BlasterMaster
24th June 2025, 8:30
+1
AlanD
23rd June 2025, 19:01
It is interesting to see pretty well all the coments above are saying it is Piastri’s mindset which is winning. No-one is claiing the McLaren is better suited to his driving style or anything like that. I’d agree with that diagnosis. I’m sure I saw a race somewhere where the drivers had heart and BP monitors so you could see who was fired up and who was insanely calm. I suspect if we had those in F1 that Paistri would be the calm level-headed one getting on with the job and Norris would be the one reacting much more to things he cannot control.
Charles
23rd June 2025, 19:29
Well that would be interesting, for the viewers visible biometrics of the drivers in realtime. Not just heartrate, but sweating levels, body temperature, breathing rhythms, blood pressure, emr muscle activity, blood saturation, co/co2 levels in their breath. And ai predictions of drivers who are at high risk for making mistakes. I prefer not, still remember Miami 24 where Norris couldn’t calm his breathing and left his mic open after he forgot to pit.. I still feel for the guy and made me realise he just cannot stand the heat.
AlanD
23rd June 2025, 19:19
Reading this article, I am thinking about another time that McLaren had a dominant car and two drivers with WDC aspirations. At the opening race of the 1999 season, Coulthard and Hakkinen were massive favourites. So confident were they in the car’s superiority that they’d had some sort of gentleman’s agreement before the race that they wouldn’t battle each other, and whoever was in the lead on the first corner of lap one would win the race. Hakkinen got into turn one first, but due to a pit stop mixup near the end, Coulthard was ahead in the final laps. On the last corner he pulled over to let Hakkinen through to take the win. Some people said “what a gentleman”, others said “what an idiot, doesn’t he want to be WDC?” After that race, the championship was as good as over. Hakinnen had the air of the next world champion. Coulthard looked like the popular nice guy who didn’t quite have what it takes. Hakkinen won 8 of the 16 races, Coulthard just one, and the only times DC outscored MH was when MH retired from the race.
Applebook
25th June 2025, 4:48
Hakkinen had the clear advantage of being much more talented than Coulthard could ever be as well. Mika’s driving style requires supreme talent. Schumacher considered Mika to be his biggest true rival.
Blight
24th June 2025, 9:02
If I was a young and talented driver I would be knocking down Mark Webber’s door to be my agent