In hindsight, Saturday at the Dutch Grand Prix could prove to be one of the decisive moments in the 2025 F1 World Championship hunt.
After an entire weekend in which he had been inferior to Lando Norris, championship leader Oscar Piastri secured pole position at Zandvoort.
The tiny little gap between the two - just 12 thousandths of a second - makes all the difference, given that overtaking is difficult on Max Verstappen's home soil.
Let's analyse together, using telemetry data, how Piastri managed to overturn a script that was already written: one that saw Lando ahead of him.
Piastri vs Norris
The graph below shows just how close the pace was between the two drivers: Norris carries more speed in turns 1 and 10, Piastri in turns 3 and 11.
Difference between Piastri and Norris in km/h during the decisive lap for pole position
Yet the difference in the Australian's approach - difficult to measure in km/h - lies in his use of the accelerator: the number 81 has more confidence in his car in turns 7 and 8, accelerating before his direct competitor even in the final section of turns 13 and 14.
That extra confidence, when the gap is only 12 thousandths in the end, becomes hugely valuable for whoever comes out on top between the two. It become even more valuable if the winner, Piastri in this case, had struggled to get the better of his teammate throughout the whole weekend.
After all, whether one might like it or not, it is in the decisive moments that one sees who has what it takes to be a World Champion and who does not. Norris appears to be potentially the fastest out of the McLaren pair, but - at least so far - he has not shown the same killer instinct that Oscar has.
And who knows, looking at the World Championship standings at the end of the year, moments like today's pole position may prove to be the ones that decided the season altogether...
Read also: Piastri takes pole at Zandvoort as McLaren lock out the front row
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