Jacques Villeneuve believes Oscar Piastri has “already reached his limit” this season after the Australian relinquished his lead in the F1 world championship.
Piastri looked well on course for a maiden title after taking a 34-point lead following Lando Norris’ retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
Yet a downturn in performance for Piastri since that race has seen Norris claw back that deficit, with Piastri’s McLaren teammate now leading by one point ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix this weekend. Piastri had been the championship leader since the Saudi Arabian GP in April.
With four races to go, and Max Verstappen just 36 points off the top, it is paramount that Piastri turns around his dip in form, but 1997 F1 world champion Villeneuve believes the Australian may have already reached his limit.
"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."
Verstappen won last year’s memorable grand prix in Sao Paulo, effectively securing his fourth world championship. This weekend will also be the penultimate sprint weekend of the season, with 33 points up for grabs in total.
