I find it hard to believe how the driver who scored 14 podiums and seven wins in the first 16 races is now having real difficulty in achieving even fifth place. Is this a case of Oscar Piastri feeling the pressure and making some really costly mistakes, or do the clues really differ that much throughout the season? -Allegra
Piastri’s drop in form since winning the Dutch Grand Prix to take his seventh win of the season in 15 races is truly remarkable.
In fact, I asked him on media day in Las Vegas if he knew what had been going on, and this was his response.
“Austin and Mexico were quite different than other races that haven’t been as successful,” he said.
“There was a clear rhythm deficit there and something quite fundamental that just wasn’t working.
“The other races have just been a combination of different things going wrong.
“Obviously Baku (where he crashed three times and missed the start) was what it was. Singapore, from a performance point of view, was pretty solid, it’s just that the race obviously didn’t go exactly the way I wanted.”
“And even Brazil, the pace was good in some spots. The sprint crash didn’t have a big impact on the rest of the weekend. There were some things resulting from that that weren’t optimal for the rest of the weekend.”
“From a pace and performance point of view, Brazil were pretty good, but a lot of things happened that made the results not on the table.
“There were a couple of races where, yes, I had to scratch my head and figure out what was going on, but the other races that have been difficult have just been what some might say is a difficult world of motorsport.”
That’s a pretty good summary of what’s been going on.
But there is another factor to take into account: Piastri does not lead in isolation. They also compare him with his rivals and, in particular, with his teammate.
There is absolutely no doubt that, after a shaky start to the season, Lando Norris has picked up a gear or two since the summer break.
Norris himself says the upward trend began before that, and it appears to have started with the introduction of a front suspension geometry adjustment in Canada intended to allow him to better feel the front of the car at the limit.
Until the Dutch Grand Prix, the qualifying statistics among McLaren drivers were in Piastri’s favor, but in terms of pace the margin was only 0.099 seconds.
Since Monza, Piastri has surpassed Norris in qualifying only once, in Singapore, and the pace difference is 0.226 seconds in favor of Norris.
This has been achieved thanks to Norris’ hard and focused work, as he explained in Las Vegas. Now it’s Piastri’s turn to respond.
