Oscar Piastri must listen to Max Verstappen to fix the ‘obvious’ problem with his approach to F1

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri will know he still has some way to go if he wants to become a Formula 1 world champion.

Last season should have been the perfect opportunity for Oscar Piastri to become F1’s newest Australian world champion.

However, the 34-point lead he had after winning the Dutch Grand Prix evaporated after several mistakes, and it was his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, who eventually took the crown.

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Martin Brundle is backing Oscar Piastri to come back better than ever after missing out on the 2025 championship…

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Martin Brundle has spotted something Piastri needs to fix if he wants to become a world champion, but ahead of this season, he may need to take inspiration from Max Verstappen.

Driving coach Martin Villari was speaking about the weaknesses that he’s seen in Piastri’s skillset during his first three years in Formula 1.

He believes that there’s an ‘obvious’ area where Piastri can improve, which is one of Verstappen’s strongest skills.

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Oscar Piastri told he needs to start taking his McLaren simulator work more seriously

Villari was speaking about the 24-year-old on The Red Flags Podcast, and when asked about his weaknesses, he said: “He’s still developing in a way, like it was only his third season. I still feel like he’s got a lot to come.

“I’ll start with the weakness. He spoke about the sim in that podcast with Tom [Clarkson], and he was like, ‘Oh, very rarely am I using the sim for training or practice. I jump on there and have a bit of fun.’

“I think that’s an obvious gap and hole in Oscar’s preparation. I don’t think that’s a strength.

“And he spoke about struggling with braking and being an active breaker, and he spoke about, as well, like when we were looking at the corners on the whiteboard, he said I got to brake as late as possible to get to the apex as soon as possible.

“I would reframe that as well because he was losing out in Mexico City at turns one, two, three; it’s a sequence of corners where he was losing out.

“In Brazil turn one, two, three, again, a sequence of corners where Lando was caning him in both those areas because Oscar was braking later than Lando into turn one on both occasions.

“This is just a reframing of how he views the corners and the lap comes together.”

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Why Max Verstappen takes responsibility for Red Bull’s simulation work

Verstappen’s simulator activities away from Formula 1 are notorious and have led to some exciting opportunities for the Dutchman.

This year, it looks like Verstappen will continue with his racing career outside of F1, which comes from the experience he’s gained on the sim during his spare time.

As much as this is a passion project for the 28-year-old, it’s undoubtedly improved his skills as a driver.

Speaking to Speedweek in January 2023, Verstappen explained: “The days are very long, but I am convinced that this work is worth it.

“I also don’t want a test driver to take care of the simulator work, as is done at other racing teams. I want to do it myself, because everyone has their own unique driving style.

“That helps me keep sharp. You can’t do much more than that at the moment if you have to stay at home. And I get a lot of enjoyment out of sim racing anyway.”

Piastri may well take the simulator work he does for McLaren extremely seriously. However, he may need to go the extra mile if he wants to come out on top this season.