Piastri: Everybody knows the history of Senna and Prost

Now 16 points clear at the top of the 2025 F1 Drivers’ Standings, Piastri reflected on his growing confidence and his approach to the run-in, speaking ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Reflecting on his weekend at Spa-Francochamps during Thursday’s press conference in Budapest, Piastri said the breakthrough came early: “The first lap overtake was crucial to winning the race. I had a really good race start, especially considering it was a rolling start. That’s what really put me in a good place.”

The Australian credited the team’s pace and tyre strategy, adding: “Managing the Mediums was important. The pace the whole weekend was really strong. Even going back before Sunday, it felt like a really solid weekend.”

With Max Verstappen slipping to even further down the standings, in P3, this year's title fight is now clearly between the two McLaren drivers.

“Every weekend now, or the last few anyway, it has been Lando and I,” Piastri acknowledged. “I expect our competition to still be strong and put up a good fight… Clearly, Lando and I are in the same car, which is the best, and he’s naturally going to be the close competition.”

Asked what would ultimately decide the title, Piastri said: “You need to be faster than everyone around you and make the least mistakes possible. It’s great to be consistent, but if you’re consistently being beaten, that’s not a recipe for a championship.”

Hungary holds special significance for Piastri, it’s where he took his first Grand Prix victory 12 months ago. “It’s been a good track for us as a team. I expect us to be strong again, but there have been tracks this year where the gap was either bigger or smaller than expected. You never really know.”

Still, he remains optimistic: “I’m confident I can do it, but it’s not going to be easy. Just trying to put together a solid, consistent year is ultimately going to be important.”

While comparisons to iconic intra-team battles at McLaren have surfaced, Piastri insists the environment remains positive: “Everybody knows the history of Senna and Prost… but we don’t need an example to set the culture we have. We’re both very conscious that we want this opportunity to last for many years.”

Piastri also confirmed that McLaren bosses Zak Brown and Andrea Stella have given both drivers freedom to race: “We’ve been free to race from race one." As did Ron Dennis during the Senna-Prost era.

Although Max Verstappen won the Sprint on Saturday, Piastri beat Norris and acknowledged the growing influence of the short format races in the Championship, even if they still “don’t count as a real win” in his eyes, but added: “In the position we’re in, there’s often more to lose than to gain, because each position is one point. But any points help.”

Piastri praised the new-look Hungaroring facilities ahead of the weekend: “It looks really nice from the outside. As long as it gives fans a better experience, then that’s great. It’s impressive that it’s been done from one year to the next.”

With 11 races remaining, Piastri leads Norris into a summer showdown that promises to go the distance.