'Complacent' Piastri 'at his limit' in F1 title fight

A former F1 world champion has suggested that 'complacency' from Oscar Piastri has allowed his McLaren team-mate back into the championship fight.

Following the Dutch Grand Prix just over two months ago, Piastri was 34 points ahead of Norris in the championship standings, and it seemingly looked like he would cruise to his maiden title.

Now, however, Norris leads the F1 championship for the first time since Saudi Arabia, one point ahead of Piastri with just four race weekends remaining.

With all of the momentum now with Norris, Piastri needs to bounce back immediately at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, which is a sprint event meaning that there are more points on offer for the drivers.

Further back, four-time world champion Max Verstappen is also just 35 points behind Piastri, and 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has spoken about how the swing in the points may not be Aussie's form dropping off, but his rivals reaching their 'limit', which he believes is higher than Piastri's

"We didn't have an extremely fantastic Lando early in the season, not the Lando we had at the end of last year," Villeneuve told Sky Sports' The F1 Show.

"And we kept saying, 'oh, that's because Piastri has stepped up, he's now on Lando's pace and even quicker.'

"But was it actually Piastri stepping up or Lando that just wasn't on it? He kept saying he wasn't very comfortable with the car. And maybe that made Piastri complacent a bit. When all you have to fight is your team-mate, maybe you don't push to that last limit, that last tenth of a second.

"Suddenly, we get Baku and we get Max winning everything. And Lando stepped up. Lando is driving faster and better than he's been all season.

"Piastri is not stepping up. He was already at his limit. And when you do that, when you have to go that extra two tenths, and suddenly, you find problems in the cars that did not exist."

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Norris is now the favourite to claim championship success, with the two McLaren drivers chasing their maiden title.

But the threat of Verstappen looms large in their mirrors, and the Dutchman has been here before in a championship battle towards the end of a season.

Verstappen is chasing a record-equalling fifth consecutive title, which would be an astonishing achievement given the dominance that McLaren have enjoyed over the rest of the field, particularly at the start of the season.

From his previously commanding position, Piastri will be desperately trying to turn the tide back around in his favour, and the Brazilian GP could be a good place to do just that.

A sprint race victory on Saturday would not only at least tie him level on points with Norris once more, but it would also give him that confidence that he can still beat Norris and Verstappen when it comes round to the full-length races.

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