Piastri and Norris agree: It's going to be a tough second half

Reflecting on the recent swing in points, Piastri played down suggestions that his early-season momentum is slipping: “The biggest lead of the year has been 23, and it's not moved within 10 points for the last ten races almost. So, I'm not really that fussed with that.

"Obviously, it would have been nice to have the extra points, but I don't think it's necessarily a trend. One second different, and the trend would have looked quite different today. Things happening in the last few races differently could have meant quite a different picture.

"But you can say that about pretty much every race this year and about every championship ever. So, I'm not concerned at all. I think the pace for the first half of the year has been very, very strong, and I think the last few races as well have been very good. 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.”

Piastri admitted the mental demands of fighting for the title are already taking their toll and will only intensify in the remaining 10 races: “ I think it's going to be a tough second half of the year. It has been tough already, and the margins are very fine. So, it's going to be great watching.”

One area where he’s shown clear progress this season is qualifying, an element he pinpointed as a weakness in 2024: “I've been happy with qualifying this year. Still not been perfect, but it's certainly been a good improvement from last year. I don't really feel like there's one area that's lacking.

"I felt the same last year; it's just that I never got it all together on the same weekend very often. This year, I felt much more like that, and it's just going to be about trying to do that every weekend to the end of the year. So that's going to be the key,” said Piastri.

Despite McLaren’s recent run of form, including multiple one-two finishes, Piastri isn’t expecting Red Bull-style dominance in the second half of the year: “I mean, I hope the same thing,” he said when asked whether McLaren could dominate like Red Bull did in 2023 and 2022.

"But I think we will have competition at certain points through the year. There are some tracks that other teams have historically been quite quick at, and we'll wait and see if that's the same this year," added Piastri, who has topped the 2025 F1 drivers standings since the Saudi Grand Prix.

In the sister car, the challenger, Norris, now just nine points behind his teammate, is equally braced for an intense run to the end of the season. He echoed the mental and physical demands of the title fight: “I think it's already tough, and it's going to continue to be tough. It's pretty small margins between us.

"I'm sure there's some things I can do better on and improve on, and I'm sure he'll probably say a similar thing. So, it's going to be a good and tough battle probably till the end." It takes a lot out of you trying to focus so much for every single session, race, and everything.

"So, it's going to be a long second half of the season, I'm sure, but at the same time, I'm looking forward to a nice break, a bit of time to rest. And, yeah, try and come back even better because there are those things I need to improve on and want to improve on. I'm not giving myself the best opportunities.

"Even though the results have looked great, I'm not making my life very easy for myself at the minute. So if I can work on those things, then I'll be in a better place," added Norris, who has won five times this season, one less victory than Piastri in a championship battle which will probably be decided by the driver with most victories.