Could Scuderia Ferrari bring an end to McLaren’s recent run of success in the second half of the 2025 Formula 1 season? Oscar Piastri believes it is possible, and he is placing his bet on Charles Leclerc to pose a serious challenge.
Charles Leclerc proved to be a significant threat to McLaren during the Hungarian Grand Prix — that is the opinion of Oscar Piastri, who found himself directly up against a highly competitive Ferrari on race day. The Monegasque driver had secured pole position, managing to edge out the Australian by just a handful of thousandths of a second in a fiercely contested qualifying session.
The start of the race was a crucial moment. It allowed Charles Leclerc, driving the number 16 car for Ferrari, to hold onto the lead he had secured on Saturday, while Oscar Piastri followed close behind in second position. Leclerc delivered an excellent opening stint of the Grand Prix, demonstrating strong pace and consistency that made him a serious contender for the victory. However, his progress was later compromised by a race strategy that proved to be disadvantageous for the Ferrari team.
Despite putting up a strong fight, Charles Leclerc eventually struggled to maintain a podium position. In the final stages of the race, he was overtaken by a resurgent Mercedes driven by George Russell, who ultimately stole third place from the Monegasque, relegating him to fourth.
During the post-race press conference for the top three finishers, the two McLaren drivers shared their thoughts on how they see the rest of the 2025 Formula 1 season unfolding. Prior to the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Charles Leclerc had offered a bold prediction about McLaren’s dominance, stating that Andrea Stella’s team would be “the only ones having fun for the rest of the year.”
So, are we now looking at a second half of the season dominated by McLaren, similar to what Red Bull Racing achieved during the 2022 and 2023 seasons? Lando Norris kept his answer short, simply saying: “I hope we dominate.”
Oscar Piastri shared the same hope but also issued a word of caution regarding McLaren’s main rival, Ferrari. “I hope the same thing, but I think at some point we will have some competition,” said Piastri. “I don’t know what happened to Charles in the second half of the race, but clearly something did. He looked very quick in the first half.”
Piastri then continued by pointing out that certain tracks might still favour Ferrari and other competitors: “I think there are a few tracks where other teams have historically been quicker. We’ll wait and see if it’s the same this year,” he concluded.
The message from Oscar Piastri was clear — while McLaren may currently be leading the way, Charles Leclerc and Scuderia Ferrari should not be underestimated as serious contenders in the races to come.
Leave a Reply