Oscar Piastri delivers strong 'hell of a lot' message after F1 title misfortune

Oscar Piastri insists he has "learned a hell of a lot" in F1 over the past season, despite watching a maiden drivers' championship slip through his fingers.

The Australian led the standings for much of the campaign and looked on course to beat Lando Norris to the crown, but a late-season capitulation opened the door for his McLaren team-mate and Max Verstappen.

Ultimately, the 24-year-old's loss of form resulted in him finishing third in what appeared to be, for long stretches of the year, a two-horse race.

That was, in part, catalysed — and can be explained — by the Woking-based squad's staunch "two number one drivers" approach, which is designed to ensure equal treatment between Piastri and Norris.

On the one hand, it helped invite Verstappen back into contention after the Red Bull driver fell 104 points adrift of the former at the Dutch Grand Prix — although strides made in Milton Keynes played a significant and predominant role in his revival.

And on the other hand, the instruction for Piastri to move aside for Norris in Monza instigated his torrid weekend at the next round, in Azerbaijan, where those team orders were still playing on his mind.

It was not long before he endured an abject loss of pace in the low-grip conditions of Austin, Mexico City and São Paulo, culminating in a disastrous stretch.

In the end, he concluded the campaign 13 points behind Norris and 11 points behind Verstappen, having once held a lead of 34 points over his team-mate.

Nonetheless, the nine-time grand prix winner is appraising the season with a glass-half-full attitude. 

"Obviously, I would have wished for a slightly different ending, but I think this year I’ve learned a hell of a lot about myself as a race car driver, myself as a person," he told media, including RacingNews365.

"I think if you had presented this season at the start of the year with the pole positions and the wins and the podiums, I definitely would have been pretty happy with that."

Piastri vowed to use the experience to help further foster his development, expressing his pride at what he was able to achieve across the year.

"And I think even in the tough moments, I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I can be stronger in the future," he added.

"So, I think, ultimately, there’s a little bit of disappointment, obviously, but I think I can be very proud of the season I’ve had and plenty of lessons to take to the future."