F1 champion changes mind on title favourite after 'watershed moment'

Oscar Piastri has been handed the tag of drivers' title favourite this year after what has been described as "a watershed moment" that unfolded during Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

For a short period at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, it appeared as if Lando Norris would snatch fourth place from McLaren team-mate Piastri late on, and narrow the gap in the standings between them to eight points.

Norris, however, made another crucial mistake, one that could prove defining by the end of the campaign, by crashing into the back of Piastri in going for a gap that did not exist, to now leave him trailing by 22 points.

Nico Rosberg, the 2016 F1 champion, previously believed Norris would eradicate his errors and go on to take control of the title race. But not any more.

"That, for me, was a watershed moment out there," said Rosberg, in his role as a Sky Sports F1 pundit, referring to the lap 67 incident between the two drivers.

"I would say it's the first time, for me, to say that Oscar Piastri is now the big favourite to win the championship this year. I've never said that so far. In fact, I was always more on Lando's side.

"I was like, he's going to clean things up and just have that little edge and speed, and he's going to bring it home.

"But Oscar is just so strong. He's just always delivering zero mistakes. I've seen one mistake from him in the last two years in the most horrible conditions in Melbourne [in this year's Australian Grand Prix], and that's it. He's just always there.

"So for me now, the big favourite is Oscar Piastri."

Piastri and his pizza

It is Piastri's cool, calm, seemingly unflappable demeanour that is winning him admirers and praise as the season continues, with Rosberg now amongst that throng.

Rosberg went on to offer crucial insight into what you see in Piastri on track is mirrored in his off-track persona.

"I spoke to Mark Webber, who used to be my ex-team-mate at Williams, who's now Oscar's manager, and he said that whether he finishes first or fifth, in the evening, it's just having a pizza, the same state of mind," said Rosberg.

"Of course, there's nice excitement after the race, but then it's done and we move on. It's just super, incredibly solid."

Danica Patrick, the former IndyCar and NASCAR driver working alongside Rosberg in a punditry role, further highlighted that fact that when Piastri does make a mistake, there is no drama or deep analysis as to what went wrong, as opposed to Norris.

"I don't think he talks about mistakes too much, because he did clip the wall on the exit of the last chicane in practice," Patrick noted.

"You see that there are drivers who speak about the mistakes that they make and the things they wish they could have done better, and what they did wrong. And thoughts become things.

"You have to focus on the positive, and I think Oscar does a really good job of that."