Oscar Piastri points to historic ‘evidence’ as Max Verstappen threat grows

Oscar Piastri is using his career as “evidence” things can change very quickly in a title fight as he attempts to overturn his poor run of form.

Having at one point looked unflappable, Piastri has been uncharacteristically vulnerable in recent weeks and has opened the door to both his team-mate Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri staying calm in F1 title fight

Of the three title contenders, it is Piastri in the worst run of form having scored 19 points in the last four races compared to the 46 by Norris and the 83 by Verstappen.

This dip, coinciding in the end of the European season, has allowed Verstappen in particular to have a renewed sense of confidence but Piastri suggested his previous career gave him the “evidence” that things can change very quickly.

“I’ve been in fights that were as close, or at this point, even closer than what they are now,” he told media including PlanetF1.com in Austin. “So I’ve got the evidence for myself that things can still turn out well, and I still fully believe that I can win the championship.

“This weekend has obviously been tough, and the gap has come down a little bit in the last few weekends. But again, performance is what’s going to win you a championship, not just looking at points and seeing if you can increase it or decrease it. The faster you go, the more points you’re going to score.”

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While not stating it directly, Piastri will likely have been referring to his 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup success when he and Victor Martins traded wins and podiums. In that fight, Piastri ended up winning by 7.5 points. Also in F3, Piastri beat Theo Pourchaire by just three points to win in 2020.

As to what the source of his issues is, Piastri said things had been a “little bit tougher” in qualifying than compared to the race.

“I think just trying to understand if we’ve been maximizing the car every weekend,” the 24-year-old said. “I think in race trim, we’ve still looked pretty good, but in qualifying trim, it’s been a little bit tougher for us the last few weekends, and this weekend, for whatever reason, you know, I’ve just not gelled with the car at all.

“So that’s the biggest thing and just the only thing you can do is analyze it and see what we can do better.”

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