Martin Brundle thinks Oscar Piastri’s F1 title challenge has been derailed by three key issues

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri will know he needs three perfect weekends to stand any chance of winning the world championship this season.

Lando Norris extended his lead in the drivers’ championship to 24 points after a perfect Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver topped every session in Brazil as fans watched on to see how he would cope with being in front in the standings for the first time since April.

On the other side of the garage, Oscar Piastri was hoping to end a run of four races without a podium finish.

Mark Webber has suggested why Norris might be dealing with the pressure better than Piastri, and recognised in his role as the Australian’s manager that his teammate has dealt with the run-in, and the lurking threat of Max Verstappen, more competently.

Piastri had another tough weekend, spinning out in the Sprint Race after hitting a patch of water on turn three, before picking up a penalty during Sunday’s Grand Prix that limited him to a P5 finish.

Jolyon Palmer thought Piastri’s penalty was harsh, but even without it, there was no way Piastri was putting a dent in Norris’ points advantage.

Martin Brundle has now shared his thoughts on what’s happened to the 24-year-old since his victory at the Dutch Grand Prix.

He’s pinpointed three potential reasons why his form has suffered while Norris has entered the most dominant period of his Formula 1 career.

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Martin Brundle questions why Oscar Piastri’s F1 title challenge has fallen apart

In his column for Sky Sports F1, Brundle explained: “Piastri was so unlucky again, the dice simply won’t roll for him.

“The last time he was on the podium was back in September in Monza. He’d been on the podium in 13 of the 15 races prior to that, including seven victories.

“Norris was quicker than him in Monza, followed by the double shunt and jump start horror story in Azerbaijan, the first-lap skirmish with Norris in Singapore, the Sprint race in Austin, which cost both cars heavily, and his pace simply hasn’t quite been there since.

“Is it Oscar’s head, just a sporting run of bad luck, has there been a set-up problem with the car, or has it been a series of tracks which don’t suit him so well? Probably a little of each, just at the same time as Norris found overdrive and confidence.

“By not nailing the pole positions and front rows, Oscar has been in the danger zone more often, and this has hurt him.

“The spin on the wet kerb in turn three in the Brazilian Sprint was unfortunate; two other drivers spun and crashed on the dispersed water too, which was captive in the serrated kerbs, but others made it through.”

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Martin Brundle gives his verdict on Oscar Piastri’s Brazilian Grand Prix penalty

While commentating on Sunday’s race, Brundle and David Croft gave their views on Piastri’s penalty after he collided with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who in turn had no chance of avoiding Charles Leclerc on his outside, ending the Ferrari driver’s race.

Piastri’s move was bold and exactly what any title challenger needed to do in his situation, but a small lock-up left him unable to avoid the Mercedes alongside him.

Brundle wrote that Piastri’s ‘confidence’ in the car might have impacted his performance, suggesting, ‘he might have released the brakes and claimed the apex of the corner, and sorted it out from there, but he was driving into a wedge and instinctively braked’.

He believes that the ‘optics’ of Piastri locking up played a role in the stewards deciding that he was completely at fault for the incident, despite Antonelli having more room on his outside to allow three cars to enter the corner at the same time.

Brundle suggested the penalty was ‘very harsh’ and that there was ‘a clear mitigating circumstance’, believing that a five-second penalty would have been fairer.

This would have made for a much more exciting race, as that would have put Piastri out in front of Verstappen after the last round of pit stops and seen the two title challengers go wheel-to-wheel during the final laps of the race.