Oscar Piastri handed no 'sympathy' verdict after F1 title failure

Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert has insisted he has no “sympathy” for Oscar Piastri after the McLaren driver lost the drivers’ title to teammate Lando Norris last season.

Piastri had led much of the championship before a period of poor results late in 2025 saw Norris overturn a 34-point deficit to become world champion.

In the end, even second place was not secured by Piastri, who fell behind Max Verstappen and had to settle for third.

The low-grip venues of Austin and Mexico City proved to be the real setbacks for Piastri, who also crashed out in Azerbaijan following a weekend of several errors.

In Herbert’s eyes, Piastri lacked the mental strength when it mattered most to get the championship over the line.

Had it been the likes of Verstappen in the 24-year-old’s position, Herbert is adamant the title would not have been lost.

"I don’t feel sympathy for Oscar [Piastri], because he achieved a great season, finishing as he did," Herbert told NewBettingSites. 

"It was a strong end to the season as well, he had that massively strong start and everything seemed to be in his favour.

"But for some reason, he let it fall through his fingers. The quality that we had seen evaporated. It was going so well at that point. A lot of people always talk about his mental strength. But actually, I think it's the mental strength that probably needs to be strengthened.

"He missed a slam dunk. He has to get stronger. In the situation he was in, it should have been a done deal. Max would not allow that to have happened. Nor did Lando at the end of the day. He grew and took on the mantle of being the team number 1."