Steiner: Piastri ready to go for it in 2025

Ever since McLaren boss Zak Brown moved heaven and earth to snatch Piastri from Alpine, the young Australian driver from Melbourne has proven to be worth the trouble.

Piastri was on the podium in his rookie season (2023) and also won a sprint race in Qatar, while in 2024 he took the first two grand prix wins of his career in Hungary and Azerbaijan, and in general, has given the highly rated Lando Norris a run for his money ever since he became his teammate.

While it can be argued that Piastri still lacks consistency, he has shown his prowess behind the wheel of an F1 car, and Steiner is impressed.

Speaking to News Corp, the former F1 boss and Drive to Survive sensation said of Piastri's 2025 chances: "I think he has the right car now and I think this is his year.

"Coming in as a rookie, he overdelivered for a rookie in 2023, and in '24 he followed up with some improvement. And this year, now he's ready to go for it. I think he's very good and for sure learned a lot last year," he added.

McLaren has one of the best driver pairings on the F1 grid in the form of Norris and Piastri, which helped the Woking squad bank the 2024 F1 constructors' title.

Steiner is looking forward to another season of Lando vs. Oscar in 2025. He continued: "One of the things to look forward to for sure this year is McLaren because I think talent-wise, Lando and Oscar are very close.

"I think they are the same. They have got the same speed … I think as the season goes, they will want one of their guys to go for the driver's championship.

"Obviously the pressure now comes onto Oscar because he shows he can do it. Now he needs to want it a little bit more because he wants to win a world championship now," Steiner concluded, ahead of the real money online casinos in Australia during the 2025 Formula 1 season-opening Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Piastri, on the other hand, did not hide his title ambitions for 2025 and claimed he has worked hard to get stronger in areas where he felt he needed to improve and is buoyed by the work McLaren has done over the winter to improve the car, the MCL39.

"We've not stood still," Piastri said at the launch of the MCL39. "There's some things that are different, some new innovations on this car, and that's what you need to do to try and stay at the top.

"I think also through last season we came out on top in the constructors' championship, but it was so tight throughout the whole season, so you really can't afford to stand still. There's a lot of teams waiting to try and overtake us.

"I am definitely going into this year with the aim and preparation for trying to challenge for a championship and trying to challenge for both championships.

"Winning grands prix early in my career has given me the taste for success, and I want much more," the 23-year-old concluded.

Piastri's first chance to win another race will be at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, which is the first race of the season on March 16.