Piastri, the Papaya home rival (minus 16 points)

In third place is the youngest and most inexperienced of the contenders: Oscar Piastri. Born in Melbourne in 2001 and in his third season in Formula 1, the Australian is enjoying a gradually growing winning career: he won the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019, Formula 3 in 2020 and Formula 2 in 2021.

A member of the Alpine Academy, Piastri entered Formula 1 with McLaren after a viral media case. On 2 August 2022, Alpine made him official as a driver for the 2023 season, but on Twitter Piastri denied the deal stating: 'I will not be driving for Alpine next year'. Surely the best choice of his career, supported by manager and former driver Mark Webber

Since his debut in 2023, Oscar has been steadily improving his performance and has long been a contender for the title in this 2025. Yet, since the Baku Grand Prix on 21 September (which ended with a retirement), his performance has dropped, so much so that he has been overtaken in the standings by his teammate. On the other hand, the pressure of a world championship is a lot, as he himself said in the Beyond the Grid podcast: 'If you don't feel pressure, it means that either you don't care or that you're not following something that's really worthwhile. When you find yourself in certain positions, pressure is inevitable. Sometimes it's hard and makes you uncomfortable. I prefer to feel uncomfortable if it means playing for a world championship. In Abu Dhabi he will need a feat: victory and Norris out of the Top 5.