Max Verstappen has questioned Oscar Piastri’s current droop within the F1 title race, admitting he finds the McLaren driver’s dip in kind “very weird”.
After the Dutch Grand Prix in August, Piastri held a 34-point benefit over McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Verstappen was properly out of F1 title competition, trailing Piastri by 104 factors after Zandvoort.
Since then, Piastri has completed on the rostrum simply as soon as, and has completed fifth within the final three consecutive occasions.
Piastri’s lead has been fully eroded and he sits 24 factors behind Norris forward of Sunday’s race in Las Vegas.
Verstappen has moved again into title competition, albeit as an outsider, with 49 factors to make up on Norris.
Piastri’s decline in kind has led to wild solutions that he’s been sabotaged, or that McLaren are favouring Norris given his longer affiliation with the group.
When requested about Piastri’s current performances, Verstappen stated he had “no clarification” for it.
“I’ve no clarification for that to be trustworthy. I discover it very weird,” Verstappen advised reporters.
“I didn’t count on it to go like this, though on the finish of the day it’s probably not my downside.”
Verstappen was requested if Piastri had out of the blue forgotten the way to drive.
“No, I don’t assume so. However truthfully, I additionally don’t know the way that is potential,” Verstappen added.
Verstappen on F1 title race
Verstappen’s post-summer break kind has given him an outdoor probability of a fifth title.
Verstappen has received three of the final six races, and no driver has scored as many factors as he has.
Nonetheless, he feels that Purple Bull have additionally benefitted from errors made by McLaren or their drivers, which has allowed him to maneuver nearer to Norris and Piastri within the title race.
“I believe closing the hole that shortly has occurred partly as a result of all circumstances got here collectively,” Verstappen defined.
“They made just a few errors after the summer time break or had a crash, whereas we had some good races wherein the whole lot got here collectively. Yeah, then you may achieve in a short time.
“In some unspecified time in the future, you come again to actuality and know that it received’t go like that in all places. However a minimum of we’ve been on the rostrum the final couple of races, and that’s already much more constant than what it was from mid-2024 to mid-2025. So, in the long run it’s nonetheless constructive.”
