Oscar Piastri 'brain scattered' in F1 title fight trouble

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle believes Oscar Piastri's disastrous Azerbaijan GP "scattered his brain", triggering his current run of poor form.

In Azerbaijan, Piastri crashed during qualifying, jumped the start and then crashed again on the opening lap at the Baku City Circuit. 

It was one of the McLaren driver's worst grands prix of his career, and represented the start of his struggles. 

Since his Baku disaster, Piastri has failed to finish on the podium, claim a pole position and match his team-mate, with Lando Norris having moved into the lead of the championship in Mexico City. 

Qualifying has been Piastri's biggest problem in recent races, as he has then found it too difficult to work his way through the pack. 

Brundle is unsure what exactly is currently going so wrong for the Australian, but believes it is related to his mentality.

Pointed out on the Sky F1 podcast that Piastri has struggled in recent qualifying sessions, Brundle said: "Yeah, and it's been done quite a lot in the last few races. And obviously Baku would have scattered his brain. 

"That was a very difficult weekend for him with twice in the barriers and the jumpstart, and it seems to have gone off the rails. 

"Without sitting down and talking to Oscar, it's difficult to be fully accurate on this point, but I'm sure McLaren are checking that chassis, the aerodynamics, the fit, the setup of that car ad infinitum to make sure [everything is correct]. 

"I really, honestly believe McLaren don't mind which of their two drivers wins the world championship, as long as it's one of them and it's not Max Verstappen. It's super important to them. Something's happened in Oscar's head."