Piastri preparing for “evenly matched” battle at Silverstone

Oscar Piastri says he is “not necessarily” hunting home race revenge on his teammate Lando Norris ahead of the British Grand Prix, with his focus solely on maximising his potential at “one of [his] favourite tracks of the year”.

Home races haven’t rewarded their home drivers with much success in 2025, with Piastri’s one of the most memorable heartbreaks of the season when his charge for victory at the wet and wild  Australian Grand Prix came to a slippery end on the grass at Turn 15.

Instead, it was a season opener that his teammate went on to win; however, a satisfying return of favour isn’t Piastri’s main motivation this weekend, with the level-headed 24-year-old saying that element of history won’t necessarily make a win on Sunday more fulfilling. 

“I’d be happy to win anywhere,” Piastri said.

“Silverstone is a track I’ve always enjoyed. 

“The crowd’s always been actually quite nice to me, which has been nice, but I’m not really concerned about that. 

“I’m more just focused on trying to win, to get another win on the board, really. 

“Silverstone, for me, is a special race as well. I lived in the UK for a long time, so it was a kind of second-home race for quite a while. 

“And again, it’s a track I enjoy, so I’m more going out there trying to win for those feelings rather than anything else.”

Speaking with the media on Thursday, the Australian added: “I think for me, Silverstone is easily one of my favourite tracks of the year. 

“I always say Spa is my favourite, but here is probably second or third. It’s a track I’ve got a lot of memories at. 

“It’s probably the circuit I’ve raced on the most, I would say, in my whole career. 

“Admittedly, in F4 it was about half of the track, or no, it was the national circuit, so it was about four corners, so I know four corners really well, the other 15 I have taken a bit more. 

“But no, it’s a track I’ve always had good memories at. 

“I’ve had good success here in the past, and just as a track to enjoy driving on, it’s one of the best there is.”

For the third consecutive race, Piastri will take on the 5.89km circuit without employing the upgrade package introduced by McLaren in Montreal.

The FIA listed the team as having three technical upgrades for Austria, with those upgrades comprising changes to the front suspension, front corner, and rear corner — all aimed at improving performance rather than being circuit-specific.

The revisions were made to provide better flow conditioning and aerodynamic performance gain at the front of the MCL39, while at the rear, McLaren’s reconfigured rear suspension geometry led to aero surfaces having to be altered to maintain clearances and improve load. 

However, the Australian had no complaints for his MCL39, opting to remain without the new components while Norris continues to put them to work once again in Silverstone — both sporting a new iteration of the team’s iconic chrome livery. 

“I’ve not used [the new upgrade] ever yet,” Piastri confirmed. 

“The thing is, for me, it’s not an upgrade — it’s just something that is different. 

“It makes some things potentially a bit better, it makes some things a bit worse. 

“If it was just all benefits, I would be putting it on with no questions asked, but for me, I’ve not really struggled with that kind of particular feeling. 

“The year’s been going pretty well, so I’m more keen to just keep the car consistent and worry about how we get the most out of the setup and the other upgrades we actually have, then it’s changed the spectrum.”

Derivative of the new upgrades or not, it was Norris who came out on top of an entertaining battle between the teammates at the Australian Grand Prix, converting pole position into his third win of the season on a weekend where luck — and Alpine — wasn’t on Piastri’s side.

The Australian’s transparent radio message regarding his near-collision with Franco Colapinto spread like wildfire on social media, with the usually calm driver’s frustrations from Qualifying bleeding into Sunday’s race.

Having had a few days to reflect on the moment, Piastri was asked if he had stopped and thought about the way his career might have panned out had Alpine secured his signature in 2022.

“I mean, it’s obviously a long time ago now,” he said.

“I think the comments on the radio, it was just a kind of coincidence that Qualifying was obviously an Alpine, and then I kind of got impeded by both in the race to an extent. So, it was more just a coincidence. 

“No, I’ve not really thought about it much recently. 

“Obviously, when I joined Formula 1, there’s kind of the comparisons and directions that each team has taken. 

“But now, I honestly haven’t thought about it for over 12 months, probably.”

With things well and truly working out for the better for Piastri with McLaren, the seemingly two-way championship fight only continues to fluctuate as the races tick by.

Norris’ top-step success drew the battle even closer after the chequered flag in Austria, with Piastri’s leading margin shrinking to 15 points after he crossed the line in second place, just 2.6 seconds behind Norris. 

Having breached the 200-point mark, Piastri now has 216 points to his name after 11 rounds of racing, with the team in the clear in the constructors’ standings with 417 points. 

“I think it is a very tight battle, and I think it will be for the rest of the year,” the #81 said.

“I think Canada summed up well, I don’t think it was the best Sunday for me definitely in terms of pace, but I think last weekend was probably one of the better ones. 

“I think Qualifying, ultimately, we’ll never know what was possible, but my first lap of Q3, the only lap of Q3, was not great even compared to some of my Q2 laps. 

“So, I think last weekend I was happy with my pace, especially on Sunday, but I expected to ebb and flow through the year. 

“I think the weekends where either of us put our absolute best forward is probably enough for either of us to win. 

“It’s just that doing that and finding 100% of your potential instead of 99 or 99.5% is very, very difficult. 

“So I think that’s been the difference so far probably this year. 

“But I think we’re very evenly matched and on our good days, either of us are very happy.”

Hoping to max out his potential in Silverstone, the week’s track action will kick off tonight with the first of three practice sessions taking place at 21:30 AEST, followed by FP2 at 01:00 AEST. 

Image: McLaren

2025 British Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, July 04:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, July 05:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, July 06:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Monday, July 07:

Race: 00:00

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