Oscar Piastri seemed to be on his way to his first Formula 1 title without too many problems in the first half of the season. Things went wrong for the McLaren driver in Australia, but after that he improved every race. His lead in the championship grew steadily, as teammate Lando Norris kept falling just short.
Yet things went wrong for Piastri in the second half of the season. He still did good business in Zandvoort, but after that things went further and further downhill. A series of crashes and a prolonged dip in form saw his lead shrink, until Norris eventually took the lead.
It was undoubtedly a bitter pill for Piastri, who will now have to let this disappointment slide. Jacques Villeneuve emphasizes how important this is in conversation with PokerScout:
“You have to be tough, that’s the core. From the outside everything seems nice and friendly, but it’s a tough world. This year it didn’t turn out well, and he knows he had that championship in his hands. He was in control. That’s why it’s harder for him than, for example, for Max, who never expected to still compete for the title.”
Championship material?
A new beginning is therefore not an unnecessary luxury, the former world champion knows. “Of the three drivers, it is the toughest for Oscar, because he finished third, behind Max. That will eat away at him, that is something he will have to deal with this winter. Hopefully he will return to the first test as a completely new man, who has completely left this season behind him. He will start again, from scratch, and fresh.”
According to McLaren CEO Zak Brown, a world title is possible for Piastri, although Villeneuve has some criticism of the way the American expressed it. “It could be possible. Zak Brown should have actually said that Oscar might become world champion, not that he will become one. The same went for Norris: this was the one year in which he had to grab it. Because who knows what the regulations will do next.”
Keep reading
