Oscar Piastri extended his World Championship lead in Canada, but does not consider his advantage comfortable – No concerns about Mercedes victory in Canada
Even though Oscar Piastri failed to finish on the podium for the first time since the season opener in Australia at the Formula 1 race in Canada, his fourth place was still a success for the McLaren driver’s World Championship ambitions, as the collision with his teammate Lando Norris extended his lead in the championship.
Piastri now leads by 22 points after Norris’s zero points and, according to Nico Rosberg, is also the big favorite for the title. However, this is by no means a comfortable cushion for him, especially with 14 races still to go this season.
A 22-point lead also means that if Piastri were to drop out of a race and Norris were to win, the Brit would be back in front – which could theoretically happen as early as next weekend in Austria.
And even without a retirement, things could still get tight for Piastri: if Norris wins three races, Piastri would have to finish second three times to maintain at least a one-point lead. “It’s not a comfortable lead, and I don’t want to build it up like that,” he said after the collision.
For Norris, the retirement in Montreal was obviously a major setback – regardless of the fact that colliding with your own teammate is a no-go. “I let the team down, and that will stay with me for a while,” he said. “But at the same time, moving forward is about putting it behind you and attacking again next weekend.”
Norris doesn’t expect an easy task
But: If things continue like this, Norris could find himself in a similar position to last year, when the gap to championship leader Max Verstappen was too big to catch. It’s “only” 22 points with 14 races to go, but Norris knows he’s up against a tough opponent.
“I don’t expect it to be easy. I don’t expect to catch him easily either,“ he says. ”I have to work hard and make fewer mistakes than I did this weekend.” However, McLaren must also be careful that a competitor does not end up being the one laughing in the end. The weekend in Canada was unconvincing for the first time this season, meaning that no McLaren driver finished on the podium for the first time in the 2025 season. The team lacked pace, especially in qualifying.
“The weekend wasn’t good enough for me,” says Piastri, warning: “The season is still long and we need to improve overall.”
Keep an eye on Verstappen, but not on Russell
Max Verstappen, who is capable of anything, is the one to watch out for. Although Piastri has a 43-point lead over the Dutchman, he lost six points to the Red Bull driver in Montreal. And if McLaren slumps like Red Bull did last year, that lead will quickly disappear.
Whether George Russell can pose a threat is another question. Despite his victory in Canada, Piastri does not believe that Mercedes should be considered a threat in general: “Not really,” he dismisses.
“George is quite a long way behind. They were fast here last year, and I feel that the result is pretty much what they should have achieved last year,” says the Australian, who considers the success to be more of a one-off result.
“They’ve looked promising in a few races this year, especially in qualifying. This time, they managed to translate that into the race, but I still have confidence in our team for the whole season.”
