Former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer has called Oscar Piastri the calmest driver on the grid that he’s ever seen, Afrosport reports.
Piastri currently leads the 2025 drivers’ championship, 10 points ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris and 49 points ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
The Australian has achieved this winning five out of nine races and has failed to finish on the podium just once, in the season opener in his home race, but still in the points.
Palmer believes Piastri will still be tested as the season progresses, but does not take anything away from his calm personality.
“Oscar also seems to have the calmest head, certainly that I can remember, in Formula 1,” the former Renault driver said on the F1 website.
“It’s still early stages in his career and we haven’t yet seen him under title-deciding pressures – that’ll come later this year – but the man is insanely calm with whatever is going on around him.
“Kimi Raikkonen was known as the Iceman in Formula 1, but I’ve even seen him more animated than Oscar.”
Palmer went on to assert that Piastri’s calmness and composure could make the difference in his bid to deny Verstappen a fifth consecutive championship.
“This can only be a strength to be able to stay so composed – I’ve yet to see him make pressure mistakes and you can’t imagine him squandering points due to red mist, as Max Verstappen did on Sunday,” he added.
“He’s not been perfect this season. In Melbourne he was unlucky to lose a heap of points going off in the rain, but he was napping for the Imola start when ge got passed by Verstappen, and was a bit scrappy in Monaco too. There have been enough chances for Lando to stay in the hunt, and the title battle remains close, with Oscar just 10 points to the good.
“But from what I’ve seen so far, Oscar absolutely has the makeup of a champion, in a season where he’s turned his weaknesses into strengths.”
Eight podiums in a row for Oscar
Joining an exclusive McLaren club by becoming the third driver to achieve this after Ayrton Senna in 1988 and Lewis Hamilton in 2007
#McLaren pic.twitter.com/RYipBPKNi3
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) June 1, 2025
Verstappen had a race to forget at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona last time out after he was hit with a 10 second time penalty and three penalty points for deliberately ramming into the Mercedes of George Russell, effectively putting him one point away from a potential race ban.
