Jenso Button has highlighted how the competitiveness at the sharp end of the F1 grid at the Las Vegas Grand Prix means "there's more to win and lose" for Oscar Piastri, as he attempts to reel Lando Norris in.
The Australian driver has fallen to 24 points adrift of his team-mate in their hunt for a maiden F1 drivers' championship.
Six rounds ago, following the Dutch Grand Prix, he led Norris by a comfortable 34 points. However, a loss of form and misfortune has precipitated a 58-point swing between the McLaren drivers.
Now, with just three rounds remaining, Piastri must erode the British driver's advantage over the weekend in Sin City.
"Yes, and not just by a couple of points, either," Button said on Sky Sports F1, before highlighting the significant jeopardy facing Piastri on a weekend when the MCL39 is not expected to be the most competitive car.
"You could say that on his side is that there's quite a few competitive cars out there, so if he strings a great weekend together, Oscar, he could take a chunk of points out of Lando. But it could also swing the other way if Lando has a good weekend.
"So that's the thing, when there's more cars involved in fighting at the front, there's more to win and lose — which is exciting for us, but for them, it's a lot more stressful."
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Addressing the problem
Button feels Piastri is now taking the steps to recover the form he enjoyed earlier in the season, and also that the nine-time grand prix winner has the right people, including manager Mark Webber, in his corner.
The 2009 F1 drivers' champion underlined how tackling his recent problems head-on and leaning on the experience around him can help him pull himself back into the title fight.
"It's difficult, you know? From what he said... There were lots of different issues," the former Williams, Benetton/Renault, BAR/Honda and McLaren driver said.
"There's the incidents, and then there's just not having the pace at certain races. And he's gone through the data, and he said: It's not nice because you see where you're weaker than your team-mate.'
"But coming out at the other end of it, you have a lot more confidence, because you see where you're lacking, and where you can hopefully improve.
"And you also need great people around you. You need people around you who give you confidence. He does have Mark Webber as a manager, which is a positive.
"He's been there, done that. He's been through the difficult times, as well, of almost winning a world championship.
"So he has that experience. Hopefully, he can feed off that, and we'll see him... For me, I don't care who wins the championship.
"I just want to see a good fight until the end, and it'll be lovely to see him coming back at Lando a little bit."
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