Brundle sees Verstappen racing Piastri differently compared to Norris: 'A different animal'

Piastri has made a stunning start to the 2025 Formula 1 season, winning four of the first six Grands Prix in the campaign, ahead of Norris by 16 points in the drivers' standings as he sits on 131 points.

After starting fourth at the Miami Grand Prix, the Australian was fantastic in his racecraft, setting up perfect moves to overtake both Kimi Antonelli and then Verstappen for the race lead, with the Dutchman holding strong for six or seven laps.

However, on lap 14, he was then outfoxed by Piastri after he was forced to hold and defend the inside line going into the final corner, compromising his line down the straight and allowing the 24-year-old to glide past, racing away from the rest of the grid.

It's not the first time that a battle between these two drivers has occurred this season. At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Verstappen and Piastri went into turn 1 together, with Verstappen looking to hold on to a move around the outside after Piastri made a fine start to have the inside line into the corner.

The Dutchman then cut across the first corner to retake the lead, which the FIA saw as gaining an advantage that was not given back, resulting in a five-second penalty for the Red Bull Racing driver.

When asked if Verstappen races differently when facing Piastri compared to his McLaren teammate Norris, whom he battled for the title in 2024, Brundle emphatically answered: "100%, unquestionably."

"I think he knows there is something a bit more streetfighter about Oscar Piastri, and you saw it in Jeddah," the F1 pundit said on Sky Sports' 'The F1 Show' podcast.

"You can't criticise Lando's racecraft, because the way he passed the Mercedes', and the way he passed Max was top-draw in particular. But I have absolutely no doubt, and just with the words he says, that Max is a different deal in wheel-to-wheel combat," continued the Brit.

The F1 commentator then went on to talk about how Piastri made the move on Verstappen to take the lead of the race, a move that had the former F1 driver applauding.

"Max was told by Gianpiero Lambiase to stay on the inside, and Max did that, but Oscar then just set up the move perfectly. Max was tight into turn 1 on the dirty line, had to brake late, and Oscar saw it all unfold. He actually had to turn a little bit as he realised Max was going to slide, and that's driving somebody else's car at the same time as your own. That was all one big cunning plan that came to fruition nicely," Brundle concluded.