Oscar Piastri handed staggering F1 advice: 'Best that he changes team'

Former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has suggested Oscar Piastri could seek an exit from McLaren if he fails to win the title this year.

Piastri currently sits 24 points down on team-mate Lando Norris with three rounds remaining in the championship.

The Australian has endured a challenging run of results of late, which saw a 34-point margin over Norris after the Dutch Grand Prix wiped out in the events that followed.

Piastri has noted he has been forced to drive the car in a different style at the last three grands prix compared to the rest of the year.

Despite signing a long-term extension with McLaren earlier in the campaign, Steiner has advised Piastri to seek an exit from McLaren should he fail to win the title.

“Especially if he doesn't win the championship, I think he has got a good chance to get in any other good car,” Steiner told The Red Flags podcast.

“He’s a good driver and change sometimes is good. He's young enough, he can adapt to it. He should and I think he will. That's my opinion.

“He just needs to regroup over the winter and come back stronger than before.

“Otherwise, if he doesn’t come back stronger, I think the best for him is that he changes teams then. But he could come back because I still rate him highly.”

Also in the hunt for the title is Max Verstappen, who is further adrift with a 49-point gap to leader Lando Norris.

Despite the large deficit, Steiner still sees Verstappen as a contender for the championship.

“You guys saw what happened at hte last four races,” Steiner said.

“Why not? He continues to do it. If you say Oscar is now destroyed mentally, then Max will be ahead of him, absolutely.

“Max is motivated, as we’ve seen in Brazil. He didn’t give up after a crappy qualifying. He rolls his sleeves up and made it better and finished on the podium.”