Oscar Piastri delivered a composed and commanding performance to win the 2025 Spanish GP, claiming his fifth victory of the season and leading a dominant McLaren one-two finish ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
Speaking after the race in the written media press conference, the Australian described the race as largely “under control”, despite an unpredictable strategic battle and intense late-race pressure.
“It felt mostly under control,” Piastri said. “I think I wasn’t really expecting Max to try a three-stop race, and I wasn’t really expecting it to work… Well, almost work as well as it did either. So there was a bit going on at that point definitely, and just with all the traffic and the blue flags as well, that made the race a bit more interesting than I wanted.”
Despite the chaos further down the field and Red Bull’s unexpected strategy shift, Piastri kept his focus, executing McLaren’s two-stop plan flawlessly and managing the tyres under blistering Barcelona heat.
“Apart from a few laps trying to get through the blue flags, I felt pretty much in control and could increase my pace when I needed to,” he added. “So, yeah, it was a really strong race and a strong weekend. I think we did a really good job of managing everything in that race: sticking to our plan on strategy, not getting distracted by the three-stop, really good pit stops. Yeah, I think we just did a good job all around.”
“One of the strongest” weekends of Piastri’s F1 career
When asked whether the Spanish GP marked his best performance in Formula 1 so far, Piastri stopped short of calling it his greatest, but admitted it was certainly among his top showings.
“It’s definitely up there. I don’t know if it’s the best one, but certainly it’s been a strong one. You know, it’s pretty hard to complain with the results we’ve had this weekend.
“And I think more so than that, just the effort that’s gone in, and analysing some of the things from last week that we could have done better—I think we turned it around very nicely and got back to the form we wanted to be on. And, yeah, that’s what I’m very satisfied with this weekend. Definitely one of the strongest.”
Verstappen vs Russell “didn’t look great”
Piastri was also asked for his view on the controversial late-race incident between Max Verstappen and George Russell, which earned the Red Bull driver a 10-second time penalty and a post-race drop to tenth place.
“In all honesty, I don’t fully get the context of what happened. It looked a bit strange. Like, I thought he was giving the position back… So I don’t really get what happened there. I don’t know if it was a misunderstanding, whether he didn’t brake… I don’t really know.
“I think I need a bit more context on what happened, but obviously it was not exactly a small touch. I don’t have that much more, but it obviously didn’t look great.”
Looking ahead: “I have no idea” which tracks might challenge McLaren
With McLaren showing dominant pace throughout the Spanish GP weekend, speculation turned to whether the team might face tougher tests ahead, but Piastri remained cautious.
“I have no idea. I don’t know. I think Imola, we probably expected to be a bit quicker than we were, and we got beaten. I don’t know. I think this weekend, we were probably a bit quicker than we expected compared to Red Bull.
“I think we thought they would be a really genuine threat this weekend. You know, I think they were with us in the race, but more through strategy, I guess, than pure pace. But it seemed like we had a little bit of an edge over them. So, I don’t know.
“There will be other tracks where our competitors get closer. There’s probably going to be some where they’re further away. I hope there’s more where they’re further away than closer. But I really don’t know.”
Piastri’s confident yet grounded assessment reflects the growing maturity of the 24-year-old, who now firmly sits in the middle of a championship fight. As F1 heads into the next phase of the season, McLaren remains the team to beat.
