Jacques Villeneuve Declares Oscar Piastri Threw Away the F1 Title

Jacques Villeneuve boldly claimed that Oscar Piastri threw away the championship title that was his to win with ease.

Jacques Villeneuve Declares Oscar Piastri Threw Away the F1 Title

Oscar Piastri (via F1), Jacques Villeneuve (via motorsport)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

Oscar Piastri was unable to emerge victorious in the 2025 driver’s title fight despite leading in the standings for a majority of the season. Piastri cracked under pressure and couldn’t keep up with the positive performances. As such, after losing the championship win to his teammate Lando Norris, the 1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve opens up on how the Aussie threw his title win away.

Since the beginning of the 2025 season, Oscar Piastri achieved multiple race wins. The Aussie was on the trajectory to win the title with ease. However, a drastic performance slump after the summer break meant that Piastri quickly lost points in the standings. Meanwhile, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen started performing much better, ultimately snubbing the 24-year-old from the P1 spot.

Now, Jacques Villeneuve recalled the entire 2025 season and how Oscar Piastri disappointingly lost the driver’s title. The Canadian pointed out that Piastri started performing better in the final couple of races in the year. However, Lando Norris had already clinched the title lead by then and was scoring much better results.

Jacques Villeneuve noted that Oscar Piastri had a sufficient lead at the start of the season. The Aussie was ahead in the title fight and just had to not make any mistakes to keep leading the campaign and win his maiden championship.

Regardless, Piastri threw it all away in the end, which was certainly frustrating for him. Though the 1997 F1 champion reckoned that if the car permitted, the 24-year-old would definitely achieve the championship win in the coming seasons.

In the last two races, he was quick, but it took him a while to get that momentum going again, which is very strange. And at the time when Norris actually stepped on the gas. It’s a long season, and when you lead it for so long, and you have a big advantage in your mind, you think, ‘Okay, I’m there, all I need is to not make mistakes.

Jacques Villeneuve told PokerScout.

Jacques Villeneuve predicts McLaren might not be the ‘fastest’ team under new regulations

McLaren emerged as the most dominant team in terms of pace in the final year of the ground-effect era. Woking had won the constructors’ championship long before the season’s end.

Oscar Piastri, Zak Brown and Lando Norris (via Alamy)
Oscar Piastri, Zak Brown and Lando Norris (via Alamy)

However, with the new regulations coming into effect in 2026, McLaren might have to start from the bottom again and make their way up. Hence, Jacques Villeneuve made a shocking prediction about the Papaya squad’s competitiveness in the coming regulations.

Jacques Villeneuve reckoned that the biggest problem with the regulation changes was the uncertainty. He pointed out that no one could predict the team that would perform well under the new regulations, as everyone tried their best to develop a dominant car.

Villeneuve boldly claimed that, though Woking performed extremely well in the ground-effect era, it might not be the fastest out of the bunch in the 2026 season and onwards.

That’s the issue with the regulation changes; no one knows which team will be quick, and it might not be McLaren.

Jacques Villeneuve noted.

Oscar Piastri’s title loss in the 2025 season means that he will be even hungrier for the title win in the coming seasons. The Aussie will give it his all to ensure that his winning chances are not hindered by the team.

Moreover, Piastri will put his foot down and refuse team orders that clearly put his title-winning chances at a disadvantage against his teammate, Lando Norris.

Read More: $40 Billion Worth Red Bull Racing Co-Owner Mark Mateschitz Set to Race in 2026 Dakar Rally