Oscar Piastri handed negative spiral warning as F1 title pressure intensifies

Oscar Piastri has been warned he could continue into a downward spiral as he wobbles in his chase of a maiden F1 championship.

After winning the Dutch GP four races ago, Piastri held a 34-point lead over team-mate Lando Norris and was 104 clear of third-placed Max Verstappen, but following a dip in form, including crashing in both qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan, and then a dreadful weekend showing in the United States, those advantages have been cut to just 12 and 40, respectively.

The Australian is fighting for the world championship for the first time, but admitted after a lowly fifth in Austin that he did not have any "great ideas" as to where he could find time with the car, although he did feel his deficit to Norris was more "track-specific" than anything.

However, Norris has gotten on top of Piastri in recent weeks, as 2009 F1 champion Jenson Button explained how Piastri could be starting to second-guess himself as he tries to become Australia's first world champion since Alan Jones in 1980, and third overall after three-time winner, Sir Jack Brabham.

"The car is obviously not working for him, but he hasn't forgotten how to drive, and he'll be driving around, going: 'Why can't I drive this car like my team-mate and like I could before?'

"The pressure builds when things start to go wrong, and then you might go in a slightly wrong direction with the setup as well, and it is difficult to find your way out of that.

"It is about having the right people around you in those scenarios. He has his head screwed on; he's very intelligent, but it is so much pressure.

"Initially, you're like: 'I know everything, how can these people help me, I'm the driver, I'm the guy that is fighting for the world championship, but it is not about that, it is about the stuff out of the car where you can still improve.

"This is pressure that no racing driver ever feels until you fight for a world championship in F1."