While the world championship of Formula 1 As the final approaches (December 7 in Abu Dhabi), the fight for the title has tightened between the drivers McLaren Lando Norris et Oscar piastriThey are now separated by just one point. The Briton regained the championship lead after winning the Mexican Grand Prix, while his Australian teammate finished fifth. This concludes a run of five races in which Norris has managed to erase a deficit that had reached 34 points after the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Piastri won on Dutch soil, while Norris suffered a mechanical failure that forced him to retire.
Jacques Villeneuve, who won the world title in only his second Formula 1 season (after finishing second the previous season), sees two possible explanations for this unexpected turn of events. The first is the lure of the end-of-season stakes. The closer the title gets, for both drivers, the more natural the need to raise their game becomes, much like a national team reaching the quarter-finals of a football World Cup.
“O”We see that in all sports.”he explained to Sky Sports F1. I’m not just talking about motorsport; in every sport, there are teams that can have an average season. Then, as they get closer to the final stages, the playoffs, suddenly they become the best team. Why? How can you explain it, when they’ve been average all season? On the other hand, teams that were winning everything at the beginning of the year collapse; it happens in every sport.
Norris struggled more at the start of the season, particularly with a McLaren MCL39 that he found difficult to control. These difficulties, which reversed the trend seen at the end of the 2024 season, where Norris had gained the upper hand over his young teammate Oscar Piastri, may have contributed to the former champion’s decline. F2 resting on his laurels once he has started to widen the gap in the championship.
« Did we see Piastri really coming into his own at that moment, or was Norris simply not performing well? He often said he wasn’t very comfortable with the car. And perhaps that gave Piastri a certain complacency. When your only opponent is your teammate, maybe you don’t push to that absolute limit, that last tenth of a second. Since Baku, Lando has woken up; he’s driving better than ever, while Piastri has stopped progressing. He was already at his limit. And when you have to find those extra two tenths, you discover problems with your car that didn’t exist before.
For Brundle, “something happened” in Piastri’s head
While Villeneuve believes that pressure from Lando Norris is pushing Oscar Piastri to drive differently, thus preventing him from showcasing his natural talent, another Sky Sports commentator, Martin Brundle, believes the Azerbaijan Grand Prix left a deep mark on the Australian. As a reminder, the driver with car number 81 crashed into the wall twice, once on the opening lap of the race, after qualifying in the middle of the grid.
“And obviously, Baku may have lost his focus. It was a very difficult weekend for him, with two off-track excursions and a jump start, and it seems like everything went off the rails. Without sitting down and talking with Oscar, it’s difficult to be completely precise on this point, but I’m sure McLaren checks the chassis, the aerodynamics, the setup, the configuration of this car endlessly to make sure [everything is correct]. I sincerely believe that McLaren doesn’t care which of its two drivers wins the world championship, as long as it’s one of them and not another.” Max VerstappenThis is extremely important to them. Something has shifted in Oscar’s mind.
Now in the role of the hunter, will Oscar Piastri manage to get back on track? The first answers will come this coming weekend, with the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.
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