Brutal Oscar Piastri has “no speed” verdict from former F1 winner

Oscar Piastri had “no speed” in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in an alarming verdict cast by former F1 race-winner Juan Pablo Montoya.

The McLaren driver could only finish fifth after being handed a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, while teammate and title rival Lando Norris made it consecutive victories to extend his championship advantage to 24 points with three rounds remaining.

It marked the sixth weekend in a row that Norris has outscored Piastri during a surprise slump in form that has seen the Australian go from title favourite to seeing his championship hopes rapidly fade.

And seven-time grand prix winner Montoya highlighted Piastri’s biggest concern from the weekend in Brazil.

"Lando Norris could get complacent like Oscar Piastri was with his points gap, he needs to be careful. Realistically, Norris could still finish behind Piastri every race now and still win the championship,” Montoya told PokerStrategy.

"The problem is, Piastri has no speed. When he ended up being second after the incident with Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc in Brazil, Norris was able to get away from him.

“Norris had seven or eight seconds on Piastri. What's the excuse? In Mexico it was low grip, in Brazil it was bumpy, Las Vegas won't be a strong track for McLaren because of the low downforce.

“They won't have a huge advantage and other cars will make their life difficult. I expect the Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull to be strong in Las Vegas, so if Piastri has an average race he can lose 10 to 15 points.”

Is Max Verstappen out of the title race?

While Montoya is not ruling out Piastri staging a comeback, he does believe the title is now out of reach of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The four-time world champion remains in mathematical contention but Montoya reckons his 49-point deficit is too great to overcome.

"I won't rule Oscar Piastri out of the championship yet. He can go to Las Vegas and win with a Lando Norris DNF, then Piastri will lead the championship by a point. It's not over until the fat lady sings. There are lots more twists and turns to come,” he added.

"The person who is out of the race for the championship is Max Verstappen. The point gap is too big and you're not going to get two DNFs for both of the McLarens in three races left."