Ex-F1 Driver Declares Oscar Piastri Is 'Cracking Under Pressure' Amidst Championship Pressure

Oscar Piastri had put forth one of the more consistent performances compared to his rivals in the 2025 season. The Aussie had established a great lead in the driver’s title and was on par to achieve a stellar title win. However, his recent woeful performances have caused the title fight to come close between the top three drivers. As such, ex-F1 driver and snubbed FIA steward Johnny Herbert opened up on Piastri’s blunders amid intense championship pressure.

The Azerbaijan GP DNF and mediocre results at the Italian GP caused Oscar Piastri to lose a good chunk of points in his championship lead. Additionally, the in-form Max Verstappen closed down the lead to 63 points as compared to the 100+ deficit in the standings.

Moreover, Lando Norris is also just 22 points away from the title to Piastri. The Aussie is definitely making mistakes that he never committed in his F1 career so far, which is definitely a cause for concern.

Johnny Herbert weighed in on Oscar Piastri’s recent blunders and provided his two cents. Herbert insisted that people were now witnessing tiny pressure cracks from Piastri, evident from his comments. The Briton highlighted that the ‘cool’ perception of the Aussie was not the same anymore, and he was losing his cool on multiple occasions.

We’re seeing those little, tiny pressure cracks from Oscar from all his comments, The cool Oscar Piastri that everyone was talking about at the beginning of the season is not there. 

Johnny Herbert told BettingLounge.

Johnny Herbert continued that the pressure was building on Oscar Piastri, more so in the championship battle. The ex-FIA steward noted that the driver with a stronger mentality could come out on top, and Piastri would have to move on from the woes of the Singapore GP. The Aussie would have to maintain positivity despite the problematic outing in Singapore.

The pressure’s building and when that pressure pot builds in a championship battle, it’s the one who has that stronger mentality to try and get rid of that negative Singapore result for Oscar but then have the positivity going into the next race. It wasn’t the perfect result for Lando, but he was ahead of Oscar. It’s come down to 22 points.

Johnny Herbert added.

Johnny Herbert urges McLaren to let Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ‘race’

Lando Norris definitely hasn’t made Oscar Piastri’s life any easier and is continuing to provide the latter a bang for his buck. Piastri’s race lead has only been decreasing in the past couple of races, and the championship decider is likely going to the season finale this year. As such, Johnny Herbert urges McLaren not to intervene between the two drivers in the final six races.