Oscar Piastri recognises 'brutal' trait he shares with Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri has explained how he feels his approach to racing and overtaking in F1 is not "too dissimilar" to Max Verstappen's, albeit slightly less "brutal" than the world champion's.

Championship leader Piastri and reigning world champion Verstappen have had two on-track moments so far in 2025, both at Turn 1 from shared front rows in Saudi Arabia and at Imola, with each winning a race apiece after getting the better of the other driver.

Verstappen is renowned for his no-nonsense, tough, and uncompromising approach, with the unflappable Piastri seeing shades of himself in the Dutchman's modus operandi, albeit with one major difference.

"Even without Max saying that, just from watching him through the years and now racing against him, I already knew that," Piastri explained to BBC Sport when presented with Verstappen's claim that a driver will never be able to overtake him around the outside.

"I feel like in all honesty, I have - maybe it's a slightly less brutal approach - but it's certainly not dissimilar.

"Max and I race each other in quite a similar way. It is very robust, uncompromising, and I think we both push the limits to an extent.”

Having gone wheel-to-wheel with one another on a couple of occasions this year, Piastri highlighted the two have learned how they both operate in combat.

"I always try to be fair, but it's a very fine line between good, hard racing and just overstepping the mark, and it's always difficult to find that balance,” Piastri added.

"I feel like both of us have a lot of respect for racing each other. We know what to expect, especially after a few battles this year.”