Oscar Piastri warned as Rosberg, Villeneuve claims his F1 stock is falling

Nico Rosberg and Jacques Villeneuve believe Oscar Piastri’s standing in the F1 paddock has taken a hit, claiming the McLaren driver has faded from the spotlight after a difficult run of form.

After last season’s slump cost Piastri the Drivers’ title and also second place in the standings, the McLaren driver needed a good start to the new season. It has been anything but.

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Although Piastri bounced back from his back-to-back retirements in Australia and China with podiums in Japan and Miami, he has not featured in the fight for a top-three result since.

He has, however, been in the stewards’ offices a couple of times. He was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Alex Albon in Canada and a five-second penalty, albeit a controversial one, for speeding in the pit lane in Monaco.

While he did have a penalty-free race in Barcelona, he just didn’t have the pace to challenge his teammate Lando Norris either in qualifying or in the race. Norris finished third, while Piastri was 35 seconds down the road in fifth place.

“Not going too well for him as of late,” Rosberg told Sky Sports. “His market value has taken a bit of a plunge in the last weeks and months.

“A bit unexpected because last year he was really on a par with Lando all the time, and this year Lando has jumped ahead somewhat.

“With these new regulations, new cars, Oscar is not feeling too comfortable yet. So it’s a bit strange and he really needs to work on that now because he’s falling down.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by his fellow pundit Villeneuve.

“Well we saw the trend last year. Halfway through the season he was the talk of the paddock, like it’s great they signed him because he showed it in Formula 3, Formula 2 – amazing,” the Canadian said.

“And then he collapsed, and his form went down, and he hasn’t recovered. It’s really odd.

“And nobody’s talking about him anymore. And that’s in the space of what? Like six months? Even less.

“It’s very odd. But like we often say, you’re only as good as your last race. That’s what’s tough with sports.

“Unless you’re Lewis and you’ve won so many championships and so on. Then, okay, you get there’s something you can lean on.

“But otherwise, two, three bad races, and okay, move on.”

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Piastri, though, is in at least one conversation – that of who could replace Max Verstappen if he left Red Bull.

The Australian has been widely tipped as the lead candidate to fill Verstappen’s seat, although both McLaren chief Zak Brown and the Australian have denied the rumours.

“It’s news to me,” Piastri said last month. “There’s obviously not been any discussions or anything, but it’s flattering.

“Not really much more than that.”

“Hopefully,” he added, “it proves my stock as a driver, which is a nice thing.

“But I’m very happy with where I am, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in this team that we are going to be able to win races and hopefully championships in the future.”

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