Jacques Villeneuve issues ‘tough’ verdict on Oscar Piastri’s time penalty at Brazilian Grand Prix

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Oscar Piastri endured another torrid weekend in 2025 as he fell further behind his title rivals at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Australian lost the lead of the championship after the Mexican GP as McLaren teammate Lando Norris dominated the race. The Brit repeated that feat at the Brazilian Grand Prix, grabbing pole position and winning the Sprint and the main race.

Piastri struggled to match his teammate’s pace as he lined up third for Saturday’s race. However, he would not last past three laps as he crashed out at turn three alongside Franco Colapinto.

Martin Brundle felt Piastri was ‘unlucky’ with his accident as water from the kerb sent him spinning into the barriers. It was a ‘damaging’ crash for his title chances, and things did not get much better on Sunday.

Piastri qualified P4 behind Norris, Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc. He kept his position on the opening lap after Gabriel Bortoleto brought out the safety car, but he got himself in trouble with the stewards after an aggressive restart.

Jacques Villeneuve felt Oscar Piastri’s time penalty at the Brazilian GP was ‘tough’

The McLaren star attempted a lunge into turn one on the inside of Antonelli. But the Mercedes driver shut the door and the pair collided, sending the Italian into Leclerc on the outside and taking the Ferrari out of the race.

Piastri was hit with a 10-second time penalty for the incident. While he was the one penalised, Leclerc felt Antonelli had to take some responsibility for entering the corner as if the McLaren driver was not behind him.

Brundle and David Croft were not surprised by Piastri’s penalty, but Jacques Villeneuve feels there will be some ‘questioning’ over the ordeal. He felt it was ‘tough’ on the Aussie after a ‘good aggressive restart’.

The 1997 F1 champion said on his Instagram story: “What a tough one for Piastri. Really a tough penalty, because that was a good aggressive restart. There’ll be some questioning there, but not good for the championship.

“He has three races to rebound, still a lot of points to get out there. Ultimately, a great race, hopefully we have three more great races.”

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What does Oscar Piastri have to do to keep his championship hopes alive?

With three races still to go, the championship battle is wide open between Norris, Piastri and Max Verstappen, who is now 49 points behind in third. But the Aussie’s form is a major cause for concern.

The 24-year-old has not beaten his two title rivals in the last six races. He has not been on the podium since Monza and is now almost a race win’s worth of points behind his teammate.

Sebastian Vettel says Piastri needs peace and quiet in order to keep his title hopes alive. It is clear that he is feeling the pressure of fighting for a world championship, with mistakes now becoming common for the driver dubbed as the next ‘Iceman’.

Manager Mark Webber is continuing to help Piastri behind the scenes as he battles Norris for the title. The former Red Bull driver says he is on an ‘incredible journey’ fighting for a title so early in his career, but his chances of coming out on top are starting to dwindle.