1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill believes that Oscar Piastri’s mentality has shifted during the most intense stage of the championship, adding that the McLaren driver is now dealing with the pressure that comes with fighting for a world title.
After the Dutch Grand Prix, the first race following the summer break, Oscar Piastri was widely seen as the leading favorite for the world championship. The Australian McLaren driver enjoyed a solid advantage over both his teammate Lando Norris—who was forced to retire at Zandvoort—and Max Verstappen. However, contrary to all expectations, Oscar Piastri’s form took a significant downturn starting from Monza, marked by costly mistakes and finishes behind Norris. As a result, after the Mexican Grand Prix, he dropped to second place in the Drivers’ standings, though just one point behind the British driver.
His decline has been shaped by a series of missteps—such as errors in Azerbaijan, on-track clashes with Norris, and growing controversy surrounding team orders that seemed to favor the British driver. Since Zandvoort, Oscar Piastri has scored just 47 points, compared to Lando Norris’s 82 and Max Verstappen’s 116. According to Damon Hill, this sudden drop in performance reflects a clear change in the young Australian’s mindset.
“The only explanation is that his mental approach has changed,” Hill commented on Stay On Track. “He had the luxury of a points advantage, and suddenly he lost his compass. Mark Webber once said: ‘This guy hasn’t even thrown the car into a corner yet,’ and then he goes to Baku and crashes several times. The only explanation is that his mentality has changed—he’s no longer seeing the season as a series of individual races, which is the right way to approach it.”
With only four races left in the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship, Oscar Piastri remains firmly in contention for the title, but Hill believes that pressure management will be crucial. “It’s fantastic,” Damon Hill added when speaking about Oscar Piastri’s position in the championship battle, “but it wears you down. I wonder if that’s Oscar’s problem—if there really is a problem—whether he’s carrying that weight, that literal pressure.”
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