Oscar Piastri has reached his limit in his pursuit of the Formula One drivers' championship, according to 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. The Australian driver had built a significant lead in the title race earlier this season, but has since struggled to maintain his form, with several podium finishes missing and some frustrating crashes.
Villeneuve believes that Piastri was already at his limit when he started struggling, and that he may have become complacent as a result. "When you drive within the limit, the car is perfect," Villeneuve said. "It's easy, you drive, you save your tires. And suddenly, you have to go a couple of tenths faster. You can't drive the car anymore."
Piastri has crashed out of qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan, and also had an incident with teammate Lando Norris at Austin that sent him spinning into the barriers. Villeneuve believes that these incidents may have shaken Piastri's confidence, and that he is struggling to regain his form.
Martin Brundle, a former F1 driver and current Sky Sports commentator, agrees that Piastri has lost some of his confidence, but insists that McLaren will be eager for him to return to form. "Rest assured, a team doesn't spend $400m a year and have 1,500 employees and try to make one of their cars go a little bit more slowly," Brundle said.
With four rounds remaining in the season, Piastri faces a tough task if he is to regain his title lead. The championship is currently within Piastri's grasp, but Norris is closing in on him. Villeneuve is unsure whether Piastri will be able to find the form to overturn the deficit. "It just takes your team-mate to step up a little bit," Villeneuve said. "And you're realising, 'oh, how do I do that?' And suddenly, you drive tensed up, nothing works."
The stage is set for an intense title battle at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend. With Piastri struggling to regain his form and Norris closing in on him, it promises to be a thrilling finish to the season.
Villeneuve believes that Piastri was already at his limit when he started struggling, and that he may have become complacent as a result. "When you drive within the limit, the car is perfect," Villeneuve said. "It's easy, you drive, you save your tires. And suddenly, you have to go a couple of tenths faster. You can't drive the car anymore."
Piastri has crashed out of qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan, and also had an incident with teammate Lando Norris at Austin that sent him spinning into the barriers. Villeneuve believes that these incidents may have shaken Piastri's confidence, and that he is struggling to regain his form.
Martin Brundle, a former F1 driver and current Sky Sports commentator, agrees that Piastri has lost some of his confidence, but insists that McLaren will be eager for him to return to form. "Rest assured, a team doesn't spend $400m a year and have 1,500 employees and try to make one of their cars go a little bit more slowly," Brundle said.
With four rounds remaining in the season, Piastri faces a tough task if he is to regain his title lead. The championship is currently within Piastri's grasp, but Norris is closing in on him. Villeneuve is unsure whether Piastri will be able to find the form to overturn the deficit. "It just takes your team-mate to step up a little bit," Villeneuve said. "And you're realising, 'oh, how do I do that?' And suddenly, you drive tensed up, nothing works."
The stage is set for an intense title battle at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend. With Piastri struggling to regain his form and Norris closing in on him, it promises to be a thrilling finish to the season.
... if he can't even drive within his limit, how's he gonna catch up with norris? 
and villeneuve makes some good points about complacency, but it's hard not to wonder if the pressure's getting to piastri 
... either way, this weekend's gonna be EPIC 
. But my coach always told me, "Champions don't take anything for granted, they raise their standards." It sounds like Oscar needs to do just that - push himself harder and expect more from his team 
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! The stakes are high this weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, so we'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out 
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... but then something unexpected happens and it just blows your mind all over again 
. 
he was doing so well, but now he's just losing steam 
Villeneuve is totally right though - when you're already at your limit, it's hard to push further 
and now Norris is coming for him 
can't wait to see what happens!
. Oscar Piastri was on fire at first, but I guess the pressure got to him 
. But Piastri needs to find that edge again 
. McLaren's going to be rooting for him hard 
! This São Paulo GP is gonna be a real nail-biter 
...
, if u r really gonna blow ur championship lead like dis, u gotta be honest w/ urself n tell yerself u need 2 step up ur game! 
and lost all the speed! 
️ if Norris catches up. The title battle is gonna be so intense this weekend