Jenson Button fears Oscar Piastri has a tendency to ‘tighten up’ at the biggest moments

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Jenson Button nearly lost the 2009 world championship because he ‘tightened up’, and he fears that McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has the same weakness.

Button won six of the first seven races for Brawn GP in 2009, opening up a 26-point lead (under the old scoring system where a victory was worth 10 rather than 25). However, the Briton wouldn’t win again before the end of the year.

In fact, he only scored two podiums between rounds eight and 17. That allowed Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel to narrow the gap to 11 points by the time the season ended.

Jenson Button says Oscar Piastri is the 2026 F1 driver he can relate to most

Last year, Piastri led the championship by 34 points with 10 races remaining after a victory at the Dutch GP. But the Australian’s title hopes unravelled as he failed to win any more races, opening the door for teammate Lando Norris.

Piastri, who crashed out of the Azerbaijan GP and delivered some of his weakest performances of the year in the USA, Mexico and Brazil, eventually finished third behind Norris and teammate Max Verstappen.

While Button admires Piastri’s ‘dedication and focus’ in addition to his smooth steering inputs, he has questioned whether the 25-year-old is ‘strong enough’ under pressure.

Does Oscar Piastri ‘tighten up’ under pressure?

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Asked on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast which driver he relates to most, he said: “It’s a difficult question to ask. We’re all built so differently, and I’m not inside any of the drivers’ heads. I think, in my younger years, I would say Oscar, his driving style.

“In moments in my career, I wasn’t there mentally. I wasn’t strong enough at certain moments. I don’t want to put that on Oscar, but when you look at last year, there were moments I felt he wasn’t able to get the best out of himself, and sometimes you do tighten up.

“That was a weakness of mine. 2009 it was in plain sight.

“It’s lovely to see him and his dedication and his focus. He just wants to go racing, very like Max as well.”

How do Oscar Piastri’s McLaren stats compare to Jenson Button?

Button ranks third all-time for race starts at McLaren (136), having joined the team as world champion in 2010 and stayed until his 2016 retirement.

Piastri has made just over half the appearances (72) but already has more wins for the iconic outfit (nine vs eight). He recently moved ahead for podiums in McLaren colours too (28 vs 26).

• READ MORE: Oscar Piastri says he’s ‘very committed’ to McLaren F1 team amid links to Red Bull

Button never managed to win a title for the team, though he did finish as the runner-up to Vettel’s dominant Red Bull in 2011. Piastri is aiming to become the ninth driver to bring the trophy back to Woking.