David Brabham feels McLaren now face an “interesting” situation after Oscar Piastri’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash helped Lando Norris’ hopes for the 2025 F1 drivers’ title.
For only the second time during the 2025 F1 season so far, Piastri made a blunder in Baku as the 24-year-old buried his McLaren in a barrier and retired from last Sunday’s Azerbaijan GP. It was even his second incident of the weekend, as Piastri crashed during qualifying in Baku.
Retiring from the Azerbaijan GP marked Piastri’s first true mistake since he spun out of P2 in the rain during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, before rescuing P9. Piastri drew a controversial time penalty in the British Grand Prix for a safety car restart infringement, too.
Yet Piastri only saw McLaren teammate Norris eat six points into his lead atop the 2025 F1 drivers’ championship in the Azerbaijan GP, as the 25-year-old only managed P7 after also qualifying P7. Instead, Red Bull racer Max Verstappen made the most progress by winning.
David Brabham thinks Lando Norris can win the 2025 F1 title by putting Oscar Piastri under ‘more pressure’
Norris’ P7 in Baku has put him 25 points adrift of Piastri in the drivers’ championship, while Verstappen is now 69 behind in search of his fifth title in as many years. Jacques Villeneuve believes Verstappen can win the 2025 F1 title now, too, after he won at Monza and in Baku.
READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge
| ROUND | CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER | MARGIN AT MCLAREN |
| Australian GP | Norris (25 points) | 23 points over Piastri |
| Chinese GP | Norris (44 points) | 10 points over Piastri |
| Japanese GP | Norris (62 points) | 13 points over Piastri |
| Bahrain GP | Norris (77 points) | 3 points over Piastri |
| Saudi Arabian GP | Piastri (99 points) | 10 points over Norris |
| Miami GP | Piastri (131 points) | 16 points over Norris |
| Emilia Romagna GP | Piastri (146 points) | 13 points over Norris |
| Monaco GP | Piastri (161 points) | 3 points over Norris |
| Spanish GP | Piastri (186 points) | 10 points over Norris |
| Canadian GP | Piastri (198 points) | 22 points over Norris |
| Austrian GP | Piastri (216 points) | 15 points over Norris |
| British GP | Piastri (234 points) | 8 points over Norris |
| Belgian GP | Piastri (266 points) | 16 points over Norris |
| Hungarian GP | Piastri (284 points) | 9 points over Norris |
| Dutch GP | Piastri (309 points) | 34 points over Norris |
| Italian GP | Piastri (324 points) | 31 points over Norris |
| Azerbaijan GP | Piastri (324 points) | 25 points over Norris |
Brabham expects Piastri’s Azerbaijan GP crash will also encourage Norris that he can win the 2025 F1 title. But the “only way” that Brabham believes Norris can become the champion is to put Piastri under more pressure through his results, rather than attempt any mind games.
“I’m not sure about [Norris] using it against [Piastri] because he can’t control it,” Brabham told RacingNews365 about mind games. “But it was a big shock for a lot of people to see Oscar making mistakes like that, and I would imagine it will give Lando hope that there is pressure building and that he’s cracked it.
“Oscar has made mistakes now. It could be something which was needed, so now he’s adjusted, refocused and is going to be stronger for the rest of the season.
“Lando has really just got to focus on himself and get the most out of it because that’s the only way he is going to be able to beat Oscar. Then, if he is doing a really good job, that puts more pressure on Oscar. And we saw [in Baku] that he can crack, so it is interesting.”
Lando Norris cannot let Oscar Piastri respond to his Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash like his Australian GP spin
Ex-Simtek F1 driver Brabham thinks Piastri’s Azerbaijan GP crash can help him “refocus”, too, having potentially started to feel the pressure of leading the 2025 F1 drivers’ standings since the fifth of the 17 rounds staged thus far. Piastri dethroned Norris from the top spot in April.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
324 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
299 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
255 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
212 |
Norris finished Verstappen’s 1,029-day run atop the drivers’ standings by winning the 2025 season-opening Australian GP in March. But Piastri responded brilliantly to his spin on home soil in Melbourne and won five of the next eight Grands Prix, while reaching every podium.
Piastri producing a similar response to his spin in Australia after crashing in Azerbaijan likely would see him become the first driver to win the FIA F3 (including as the GP3 Series), FIA F2 (including GP2) and F1 titles. So, Norris surely needs to follow through on Brabham’s advice.