1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve says Oscar Piastri has struggled to match title rival and McLaren teammate Lando Norris in recent weeks because he was “already at his limit”.
Piastri appeared to be on track to win his first drivers’ championship when he won the Dutch Grand Prix in late August, his seventh win in the opening 15 races and a 34-point lead over Norris.
But the 24-year-old Australian has not won in five races since then, failing to even finish on the podium in the last four races, with a resounding victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix giving Norris back the championship lead for the first time since April.
With four races remaining, starting with this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Villeneuve is unsure whether Piastri can find the form to overturn his one-point lead.
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Mexico City Grand Prix Highlights
“We didn’t have very great lands at the beginning of the season and we didn’t have the lands that we had at the end of last year,” Villeneuve said on Sky Sports’ F1 Show. “And we kept saying, ‘Oh, that’s because Piastri stepped up, he’s now on Lando’s pace and even faster.’
“But really, did Piastri step up or did Lando not ride? He kept saying he wasn’t very familiar with the car, and maybe that made Piastri a little bit complacent. When all you have to fight for is your teammate, you probably won’t push to the last limit, the last 10 seconds.”
“All of a sudden we got Baku and Max won it all. And Lando stepped up. Lando has been faster and better all season.”
“Piastri hasn’t stepped up. He was already at his limit. And then when you have to run another two-tenths of a mile, all of a sudden you find a problem in the car that wasn’t there.”
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McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had a disastrous first lap at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, crashing into the wall and retiring from the race
Piastri’s commanding lead at the start of the season was based on consistency, but mistakes have crept into his driving in recent weeks.
Piastri crashed in both qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan, and retired along with Norris during the sprint in Austin after attempting to overtake.
Villeneuve added: “If you drive within the limits, the car is perfect. It’s easy to drive, you save on tires. Then suddenly you have to go a few tenths faster. You can’t drive the car anymore. Everything is wrong. I don’t know why.”
“McLaren cars haven’t evolved that much, so there’s no reason to drive differently. It’s the same tires. Sometimes they’re softer, sometimes they’re not. The track gets warmer, but it’s not that big of a difference.”
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“All it takes is for your teammates to step up a little bit, and then you realize, ‘Oh, what do I do?'” And then all of a sudden, you drive your car nervous and nothing goes right and that’s it. It gets into my head. And then it gets slower and slower and starts inventing setups that don’t exist.
“You start to doubt the way you drive. You look at the data and say, ‘Oh, my teammate is a tenth faster in that corner, I need to drive differently.'” And that’s when the problem arises. You just have to remember what you were doing good and step up a little bit. ”
Brundle: Baku crash takes Piastri off track
After Piastri went from contention for the win to ninth place in the season opener with a spin on a wet track, the Australian finished in the top four in the next 15 races, missing out on the podium only twice.
That streak came to an end at the weekend in Baku, when he crashed twice and also jumped started. He then finished fourth in Singapore, followed by fifth in Austin and Mexico City.
Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle believes Piastri has not fully recovered from his battle in Baku.
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“If it was Baku, his brain would have been scattered,” Brundle told Sky Sports’ F1 Show. “It was a very difficult weekend for him, with two trips into the barrier and a jump start, but it seems like things have gone out of whack.
“Something was going on in Oscar’s head. Have we seen any signs of that in his previous junior races or F1 seasons? It’s worth looking into.”
“But something has gone wrong and he’s lost a little bit of confidence. And given the way these cars go into corners and how close the competition is at the moment, just a touch off is enough.
“He needs a very productive weekend. Is there a lot going on in his ears? We’ve described him as sideways almost all season, because that’s the way he looks. He’s always been so calm on the radio, not letting things bother him. And all of a sudden, that glass ceiling, that façade, whatever it was, seems to have gone away from him, and he’s struggling.”
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Brundle rejected the idea that McLaren had a preference as to which driver won the title, claiming the team was desperate for Piastri to return to form.
“Rest assured, it’s not like the team spends $400 million a year and has 1,500 employees trying to slow down a single car.
“Everyone involved with Oscar’s car will want to turn things around quickly, just like in Brazil.
“His early-season wins, early-season wins were pretty amazing. You don’t suddenly forget how to do it.”
F1’s thrilling title race continues in Brazil, with the São Paulo Grand Prix sprint weekend being broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
