Pressure “getting to” Oscar Piastri in 2025 F1 title fight, says Juan Pablo Montoya
“The pressure is getting to him and it’s getting to everybody and it’s normal.”

Ex-F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes the pressure of the 2025 F1 title race is affecting Oscar Piastri.
Piastri is 22 points ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the F1 drivers’ championship with six rounds to go.
The Australian lost more ground in the title race last time out in Singapore, finishing behind his teammate.
Piastri was irked by an aggressive move from Norris on the first lap of the race, leading to a series of radio complaints.
Speaking to Fruity King, Montoya says it’s “normal” that Piastri is feeling the pressure of the title battle.
“People said he could handle it, but pressure is getting to Piastri and that’s normal,” Montoya said.
“The pressure is getting to him and it’s getting to everybody and it’s normal.
“Everybody said Oscar never had an issue with pressure. He was so self-assured.
“But Oscar has never been fighting for an F1 world championship before.
“This is a different league. This is a 24-race season. He is centre stage of this great drama playing out.”
McLaren need to be “more flexible”
McLaren have come under fire for their ‘papaya rules’ in recent races.
It came after Piastri’s complaints about Norris’ aggressive overtake in Singapore.
McLaren have tried to manage the intra-team rivalry between their drivers by enforcing rules on how they’re allowed to race.

With the constructors’ championship now wrapped up, Montoya feels that McLaren need to be more “flexible”.
“They need to let them compete against each other,” Montoya added.
“You still need to be a unified team, and you still need to have the ultimate goal, that is to win as a team. That is really important. I think Stella does an amazing job keeping the whole thing together.
But in the races, they need to let them be more flexible.
“McLaren understands that everybody working together is for the benefit of the team and the long-term benefit of the team and that’s really important.
“But they’re stuck in a really difficult situation.
“For the individual drivers, they know that this might be it; this might be the only chance in their careers of being a world champion.
“You don’t want to go home at the end of the race in Abu Dhabi thinking, ‘Man, I was too nice. I was going to pass this guy, and I didn’t because I didn’t want to piss anyone off.’
“That’s not F1, you’ve got to go for it. The best way for them is to reinforce the need for the drivers to respect each other from now to the end of the year.
“Remember that you’re still going to be working together next year and we need the best partnership possible. So go at it, have fun but be respectful. Race hard but race with respect.”