Max Verstappen says he finds it “very bizarre” that Oscar Piastri’s season has suddenly fallen apart.
The Aussie’s campaign has been flipped on its head, having led the F1 drivers’ championship standings by 34 points following the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
His McLaren teammate Lando Norris is now 24 points clear with three races and one sprint race left in the 2025 season.
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Everything has changed for Piastri since the drama-charged Italian Grand Prix in September where the 24-year-old was told by team officials to allow Norris to overtake him. The request was made because Norris had suffered a slow pit stop after the team had inadvertently given Piastri an “undercut” to pass his teammate.
Piastri has failed to finish on the podium since.
Verstappen, who is now 49 points behind Norris, says he can’t explain Piastri’s sudden form spiral.
“I have no explanation for that to be honest. I find it very bizarre,” Verstappen said, per autosport.com.
“I didn’t expect it to go like this, although at the end of the day it’s not really my problem.”
When asked about Piastri’s form, Verstappen went on to say: “I also don’t know how this is possible.”
Ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Sunday, Verstappen reiterated previous comments that he would have handled things differently if he were in Piastri’s shoes.
On top of the drama in Italy, the team took no immediate action at the Singapore Grand Prix after Norris forced Piastri wide to avoid contact.
Adding to a number of other eyebrow-raising incidents this year, rumblings of favouritism towards Norris in the McLaren garage have swirled.
Verstappen says he would not have made the same decisions Piastri has accepted in recent months.
“No, but I think that has to do with how they operate as a team as well,” Verstappen said. “That’s not how I operate. But that’s fine, everyone does their own thing. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I am a bit different in that regard.
“I don’t know what has happened or what hasn’t happened, so it’s difficult for me to judge. But I would probably have been a bit more annoyed, I think, when you’re that far ahead and suddenly that far behind.”
Piastri’s title hopes took another beating at the Brazilian Grand Prix as Norris roared to victory in a masterclass weekend, while the Melburnian was hit with a controversial 10-second penalty.
FIA stewards found Piastri was at fault for a dramatic moment where he, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc went into a corner three abreast.
Lecerc seemed to point blame at Antonelli, but it was Piastri that was whacked by race officials.
Williams driver Carlo Sainz has now spoken up in support of Piastri.
“I think we need urgently a catch-up and try and solve it because for me the fact that Oscar got a penalty there in Brazil is unacceptable, honestly, for the category that we are in and being the pinnacle of motorsport,” Sainz told a news conference ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“I’m not going to explain why, I think you all guys saw what happened. I think everyone that has seen racing knows that that is not Oscar’s fault at all.
“Everyone else who has really raced a race car knows he could have done nothing to avoid an accident there.”
