Piastri Plots 2026 Comeback After Losing Title to Norris

Oscar Piastri’s collapse at the end of the 2025 season is well documented. He held a 34-point lead after the Dutch Grand Prix (round 15) but failed to win any of the final eight races and endured a six-race run without a podium, allowing teammate Lando Norris to seize the championship by 13 points. Piastri ultimately finished third in the drivers’ standings behind Norris (the 2025 champion) and Max Verstappen, while McLaren secured the Constructors’ title for a second consecutive year.

This week former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner publicly backed Piastri, saying the young Australian will get “better and better” and noting he had earlier described him as an “odds-on favorite” during last year’s summer run; Horner will begin a speaking tour in Melbourne on Feb 24. Broadcaster Martin Brundle predicted Piastri will “come back with a vengeance,” praising his rapid learning curve and the portions of 2025 when he dominated races, while also pointing to clear areas for improvement such as low-grip performance and tyre management. Brundle added that the rule reset and upcoming preseason activity in February — including closed shakedowns and Bahrain tests — could reshuffle the competitive order before the Australian Grand Prix in March.

Technical critics and coaches have been more prescriptive. Driving coach Martin Villari, on The Red Flags Podcast with Tom Clarkson, labeled limited simulator use and a late-braking approach “obvious” problems that cost Piastri time in sequences such as turns 1–3 in Mexico City and at circuits in Brazil; Villari urged increased, focused simulator work and a reframe of corner approach and braking technique. Pundits have suggested Piastri should also heed advice from established rivals like Max Verstappen and combine that technical work with the resilience Horner and Brundle expect.

The consensus is clear: Piastri remains a major contender based on talent and past form, but a concrete program of technical refinement and thorough preparation during the rule reset and preseason will be essential if he is to engineer a genuine comeback in 2026.