Former F1 driver Damon Hill has opened up about Oscar Piastri’s recent dip in form. Speaking about the Australian driver’s recent performances, Hill wondered if a change in Piastri’s approach to the title campaign has led to him being outperformed by rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
Piastri has not been at his best in the last few races. Since his win in the Netherlands, the Man from Down Under has struggled to replicate that success, finishing third and fourth once each, and fifth twice. The DNF (Did Not Finish) in Azerbaijan hurt him the most, as his rivals quickly closed the points gap.
His teammate and title rival, Lando Norris, has had a stronger run of form, winning a race, finishing second twice, and securing a third and seventh place in other outings. Max Verstappen has been even more dominant, winning three races and finishing on the podium in the other two (second and third places).
As a consequence of this dip in form, Piastri lost the lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Hill, a former F1 champion himself, spoke about this in a recent interview on The Race podcast. Here’s what he said:
> “The only explanation you can have for that is that somehow the mindset has changed from being someone who was just looking at each race and seeing it as an individual goal or an individual challenge, which is actually the right way to go about it.”
> “In other words, if you just take each race one at a time, then what will be will be. Yes, that’s the better way of doing it for sure. In Baku, it’s almost like he was chasing himself and trying to push himself out of a comfort zone that he didn’t need to. Well, that’s what it seemed like.”
After 20 races and four sprint events, Oscar Piastri currently sits second in the Drivers’ Championship with 356 points. He trails his teammate Lando Norris by just one point and leads reigning champion Max Verstappen by 35 points. Meanwhile, McLaren, Piastri’s team, has already secured the Constructors’ Championship in Singapore.
### McLaren Boss: Why Lando Norris Got the Better of Oscar Piastri in Mexico
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also explained why Lando Norris had the upper hand over Oscar Piastri in the recent Mexican Grand Prix. Speaking to the media after the race, Stella said:
> “It’s not the first time I feel that Lando exhibits performances at this level. I think he was essentially the fastest in every single session. He was able to capitalize on the performance and the strength of the car. In a way, these special low-grip conditions fit perfectly his natural way of extracting lap time, which is almost like the opposite to Oscar’s characteristics.”
Given the nature of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit, Norris had a natural advantage over Piastri. As a result, the Briton started the race from pole position and went on to claim victory. Meanwhile, Piastri started from P7 and managed to improve two places to finish P5.
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*Edited by Sabyasachi Biswas*
https://www.sportskeeda.com/f1/news-damon-hill-wonders-oscar-piastri-change-approach-title-campaign-leading-drop-form
