Max Verstappen puzzled by Oscar Piastri's sudden F1 slump

As the final three races of the 2025 season approach, a late change in the championship standings raises questions from Max Verstappen.

Photo credit: F1

Max Verstappen made a late-season lunge for the Formula 1 title in the second part of the season, trimming down the gap between himself and the McLarens by more than half.

With three strong victories in Italy and Azerbaijan - two races the Papaya struggled at - and a dominant weekend in Austin, Verstappen was sitting just 30 points behind leading Oscar Piastri, an incredible feat after struggling with a challenging Red Bull.

However, Verstappen expressed his pessimism about the final three races on media day, stating he would need "a lot of luck" for the championship to swing in his direction.

Looking back on the achievement of catching up with the McLarens, securing three victories and a handful of podiums, Verstappen said: “I think closing the gap that quickly has happened partly because all circumstances came together,”

“They made a few mistakes after the summer break or had a crash, while we had some good races in which everything came together. Yeah, then you can gain very quickly.”

“I think closing the gap that quickly has happened partly because all circumstances came together,”

Since the summer break, an internal battle between the two teammates of McLaren has occurred. Piastri had led the championship since his victory in Saudi Arabia back in April. The Australian seemed to have total control of the championship, especially after Norris' engine failure in Zandvoort, which paved the way for Piastri to capitalise with a commanding victory.

However, it all crumbled down after the summer break, with Piastri having two major crashes, in the Azerbaijan race and São Paulo Sprint, both of which resulted in a retirement.

Piastri has failed to reach the podium since September, while Norris has secured two victories and a further three podiums. The Briton's dominant victory in São Paulo significantly pushed him further ahead in the championships, where he sits 24 points ahead, heading into the final three races.

“I have no explanation for that to be honest. I find it very bizarre,” Verstappen said, when questioned about Piastri's fall in performance by Autosport.

“I didn’t expect it to go like this, although at the end of the day it’s not really my problem.”

Piastri's weekend went from bad to worse after the Australian was handed a ten-second penalty for being deemed at fault for a collision with Kimi Antonelli that resulted in Charles Leclerc having to retire. Carlos Sainz labelled the outcome as "unacceptable", McLaren felt it was on the "harsh side" and that they both shared responsibility for the crash.

Verstappen gave his two cents on the issue, highlighting that Red Bull would've been more vocal about the punishment.

“Yeah, I don’t know why they handled it like that. In the end, you can be angry about it, but the penalty will still stand anyway. You just have to live with it. If you have a problem with that, then you need to contact the stewards or the FIA and maybe you can talk about it for the future.”

The 22nd round of the F1 season takes place in Las Vegas on the 23rd of November.