Button offers wisdom on Piastri’s ‘tricky’ title fight

Jenson Button has weighed in on the intense pressure facing Oscar Piastri as he fights for his first Formula 1 world championship.

The McLaren driver currently leads team-mate Lando Norris by 14 points, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen closing fast, just 40 points behind, as the 2025 season enters its final five race weekends.

Piastri endured a difficult few days at the US Grand Prix. A first-lap crash in the sprint race saw both McLaren cars forced to retire, and in Sunday’s main event, he could only convert a P6 qualifying start into a fifth-place finish, while Verstappen dominated both races and Norris claimed second in the grand prix.

A Tricky Situation

Button highlighted the delicate position Piastri finds himself in, describing the challenge of handling a car that isn’t performing as expected while also carrying the burden of a championship bid.

"Yeah, it’s a very tricky situation that he finds himself in. The car isn’t performing as he would have hoped, and as it was at the start of the year. It was so strong, they were unbeatable,” commented the 2009 F1 world champion and Sky F1 consultant.

“Now, you’re slightly on the back foot with the car, and personally, you’re thinking about the world championship. So, you’re thinking about not losing points in certain races, not making mistakes, and that’s sometimes when mistakes happen."

Button reflected on his own experiences fighting for a championship, admitting that pressure can sometimes be counterproductive.

"I will say, I’m the first person who made too many mistakes when I was fighting for my world championship in the end, and I put myself under too much pressure, and I didn’t handle that very well,” he admitted.

“But hopefully Oscar has learnt from other people’s failures, he’s got Mark Webber looking after him, who’s been through difficult times and keeping him positive in this scenario."

McLaren Still Saying Neutral

Despite the growing tension, McLaren has continued to allow both Piastri and Norris to race freely, without backing a single driver.

The Aussie was asked if the time had perhaps come for McLaren to make a call and tweak its ‘papaya rules’.

"I don't know. I don't think so. We are still so incredibly tight and we've both said we wanted an opportunity to try and fight for the championship because we deserve it,” he told Sky F1.

"So I think it's far too close to start picking one over the other."

Read also:

• Brundle: McLaren’s ‘ace card’ could trump Verstappen in title fight

Button’s insights underscore the pressures young drivers face when contending for a world title.

With veteran guidance from Webber and lessons learned from past missteps, Piastri will need all the mental resilience he can muster to navigate the closing stages of the championship – while keeping pace with a charging Verstappen and maintaining harmony within McLaren.

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