Juan Pablo Montoya blames Oscar Piastri’s costly McLaren slump on an ‘internal decision’

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Oscar Piastri could win every remaining race, with Lando Norris finishing second each time, and it still wouldn’t be enough to take the title. His championship dream is at risk of slipping away.

Lando Norris’ perfect weekend in Brazil, combined with Piastri’s Sprint DNF and P5 in the Grand Prix, has put the Briton 24 points clear in the standings. P2 in every remaining event would see him win the title by at least two points.

Of course, that’s an unlikely scenario – McLaren’s advantage isn’t big enough for Norris to start driving defensively, like Nico Rosberg did in 2016. But it underlines that he’s firmly in control of the title race.

Less than three months ago, Piastri was 34 points clear himself, and there were doubts as to whether Norris could come back from his Dutch GP retirement. Since then, the Australian has logged more DNFs (three) than he has top-four finishes (two).

Oscar Piastri told there’s no ‘conspiracy’ at play as Lando Norris takes charge of title race

After the Mexico City GP, Juan Pablo Montoya said McLaren’s car suited Norris more than Piastri at this stage of the season. And he elaborated on the AS Colombia YouTube channel on Friday.

There’s no ‘conspiracy’ against Piastri, he says. Instead, Norris has just found a set-up that optimises this version of the MCL39.

With a less reactive front-end, Piastri is not only trailing his teammate, but also slipping behind Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari cars too.

The Australian decided, along with his mechanics, that this was the direction they wanted to pursue. It worked earlier in the year, but now he seems to have a lower performance ceiling.

“Oscar’s car turns much less than Lando’s,” said Montoya. “That’s not a conspiracy – that’s between Oscar and the engineer. It’s not that McLaren are giving him a car that won’t turn.

“That’s an internal decision on Oscar’s side, 100% based on what Oscar likes to drive. What Lando can drive is faster than what Oscar drives.”

Juan Pablo Montoya says McLaren’s Monza team orders were completely ‘fair’

One of the most contentious moments in the intra-McLaren title battle came at the Italian GP, when Piastri was asked to hand second place back to Norris.

In a recent interview, Piastri hinted that McLaren’s team orders played a small part in his Azerbaijan errors, perhaps because they created a media storm.

But Montoya is adamant that the instruction was ‘fair’ because Norris had been running ahead before a slow pit stop. He’d also allowed his teammate to come in first.

“They did it, and it was fair,” said the Colombian. “This was very clear. The team’s mistake was fixed, the order was put back where it should be, and they kept racing.

“He went from being four seconds to being right behind, and he had the opportunity [to pass].”

Montoya fears Piastri has ‘given up’ and expects his relationship with McLaren to ‘sour’ if Norris closes out his title bid.