Jacques Villeneuve has said Oscar Piastri needs to \u201cget back into a comfortable, calm zone\u201d, in order to help his driving in the season run-in.<\/p>\n
Having held the World Championship lead for over six months, a dominant victory for Lando Norris coupled with fifth place for Piastri meant the McLaren teammates swapped places in the standings for the first time since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri \u2018big issue\u2019 identified after recent result dip<\/p>\n
Piastri had qualified seventh for the Mexico City Grand Prix, and managed to make up places in the race \u2013 with one daring move on George Russell at Turn 1 seeing him finish fifth on the day.<\/p>\n
That deficit to Norris now sees him one point behind his McLaren colleague heading into the final four races, with the Australian having referenced that<\/a> \u201cthe last couple of weekends has required a very different way of driving\u201d compared to most of the season to date, which he is trying to rectify heading into the next round in Brazil.<\/p>\n Having been behind Norris on pace all weekend in what is his first title challenge, 1997 World Champion Villeneuve believes a return to his calmer demeanour will help push him back in the right direction.<\/p>\n As for his race in Mexico, the Canadian feels the young Australian is still not out of the fight just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cHe salvaged the weekend,\u201d Villeneuve said of Piastri on Sky F1.<\/p>\n More on Oscar Piastri and his title challenge<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0What happened to Oscar Piastri? Mexico GP data provides clear answer<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0Pace and pressure: The curious case of Piastri and Verstappen\u2019s qualifying woes<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t an impressive drive in the fact that he overtook and and got back to like a podium finish, helped by the 10 seconds [penalty] of Lewis [Hamilton], he overtook in the pit stop as well, and that just gave him enough points to not be completely out.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s only one point behind Lando now, but still hard to swallow for him.\u201d<\/p>\n While Norris acknowledged he has been feeling more comfortable in the car of late, with work behind the scenes with his engineers to optimise setups over the course of a weekend, it was put to Villeneuve that matching Norris\u2019 needs may have helped Piastri \u2013 which he felt was not the case.<\/p>\n When it comes to the rest of the title battle, however, slight changes in driving have made a big difference, and the McLaren<\/a> driver should look to move away from \u201cdriving tight\u201d in the final rounds.<\/p>\n On Norris\u2019 setup, Villeneuve added: \u201cProbably tried it, but every driver on the planet drives differently. You cannot just put a setup and it will work on everyone, it has to be natural.<\/p>\n \u201cLando is probably driving better than he was before, so he\u2019s made a little step, and Oscar is driving a little bit worse, and then that increases the step.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he\u2019s a little bit stressed and drives tight, not comfortable, not smooth and soft, that will take away a little bit as well, and he will never find the balance in the car. So that\u2019s the big issue. He needs to get back into a comfortable, calm zone.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n