Oscar Piastri handed 'fickle' warning amid McLaren exit speculation

Jacques Villeneuve has highlighted how "fickle" the world of F1 can be in the midst of rumours that Oscar Piastri's manager, Mark Webber, is talking to other teams.

The recent suggestion, made by fellow former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, is that the elder Australian is not happy with the treatment of the 24-year-old at McLaren.

Piastri fell short of winning a maiden F1 drivers' championship this year, despite topping the standings for most of the campaign.

A late-season loss of form wiped out the 34-point advantage he held over Lando Norris with nine rounds to go.

By the end of the year, he had slipped behind not only his team-mate, but Max Verstappen as well; when he crossed the line in Abu Dhabi, his deficit was 13 points.

The catalyst for his drop in performance was McLaren's call to enact team orders at the Italian Grand Prix, as the team sought to right the wrong of pitting Norris, who was ahead, after Piastri. The British driver suffered a slow stop and lost track position, which the constructors' champions corrected.

Unhappy with the decision, the nine-time grand prix winner later admitted it was still playing on his mind in Baku, at the subsequent round, where he went on to have his worst weekend of the year with two crashes, one of which caused his retirement from the race, and a false start.

From there, his pace dipped further, with underwhelming results in Austin, Mexico City and São Paulo after the team opted not to intervene when Norris barged past him in Singapore.

Whilst McLaren explained that Piastri's stretch of poor form was a result of the low-grip surfaces at those three circuits, it fed into the narrative that the Woking-based squad was prioritising Norris, which went into overdrive after the call at Monza.

So, when questioned on whether McLaren is the best place for Piastri, Villeneuve pointed out the difficult situation the Australian finds himself in.

"McLaren was the best car. They proved that. He’s under contract," the 1997 F1 drivers' champion told PokerScout.

"It’s a fickle world. Some years, every team wants you at any cost, and two years later, they’ve moved on to something and someone else. You’re only as good as your last race, basically. That’s what teams and people look at."

The Canadian underlined Piastri's difficult end to the season, where he was unable to get as much from the MCL39 as Norris, stating that he must build himself back up.

"He had a great image when he was at Alpine before coming into McLaren. Teams were fighting each other to get him," Villeneuve added.

"The second half of the season didn’t do much good in that respect. So, he has to rebuild that confidence a little."

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