Sky Sports pundit names Piastri best driver of 2025, sparking fan debate

Sky Sports pundit and former Aston Martin strategist Bernie Collins has named McLaren's Oscar Piastri as the best driver of the 2025 Formula 1 season, a choice that has ignited significant debate among fans. Her decision to rank the Australian ahead of both the eventual champion, Lando Norris, and the runner-up, Max Verstappen, comes despite Piastri's late-season drop in form that saw him finish third in the standings.

Why it matters:

Collins's verdict challenges the conventional narrative that the driver who wins the championship is automatically the season's best performer. By highlighting Piastri's dominant first half of the year, where he led the standings for 15 races, it sparks a conversation about how to evaluate a driver's season: is it based on peak performance, consistency, or the final result? This debate touches on the core of sports analysis and fan perception in F1.

The details:

• Collins ranked the top drivers as: 1) Oscar Piastri, 2) Lando Norris, 3) Max Verstappen.
• Piastri led the championship for 15 races before relinquishing the lead in Mexico, following a significant and somewhat inexplicable drop in form towards the season's end.
• In contrast, both Norris and Verstappen elevated their performances during the title run-in. Norris overcame a 34-point deficit after retiring in Zandvoort to clinch the title in Abu Dhabi, while Verstappen had previously erased a gap of over 100 points after the Dutch Grand Prix.
• Verstappen did end the season with the most wins and pole positions, securing a consolation victory in Abu Dhabi, despite his Red Bull RB21 being generally inferior to the dominant McLaren MCL39 for much of the year.

Between the lines:

The controversy stems from weighing different parts of the season. Collins's analysis appears to reward Piastri's sustained excellence and leadership for the majority of the campaign, suggesting that a late slump shouldn't completely overshadow earlier dominance. It also subtly questions whether Norris and Verstappen's heroic comebacks were as much a product of McLaren's superior car for most of the year as they were of pure driver skill. The reaction shows that for many fans, the ultimate championship outcome remains the definitive metric for "best driver," regardless of the journey.